The Garden Whispers
by Arianstar
Summary: Avalon has lost her home, her mother is a wench and her father had some good friends. Now she finds herself in a mansion, getting it livable and seems to have a kind friend hiding in the shadows. Can Edward help her or is it the other way around?
1. Arrival

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N: I'm seeing where this goes, I've been working on it off and on. Enjoy, updates will be whenever I can get them up.  
Ratings and information may change as I go along, it depends on which direction I take this story. Not sure if it will be just friends or something more. So far it leans more toward friends but it may change.  
_

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**Chapter 1: Arrival**

Legends lived and thrived within small towns, this one was unique in the legend of the scissorhand boy still remained in the castle on the hill. The large mansion abandoned for years and yet they still swore his ghost haunted the place. Kim knew the truth and often told the stories to her grandchildren, who passed them onto their children.

Those stories had been what kept Kim alive, her love for that man still burned within her very soul. She was now far too aged to make him happy and wanted him to remember her as she was, she felt for his lonely spirit though, he had been so gentle and the people around her home somehow turned him into a monster.

He was beautiful, ebony and pale stone, hands of scissors that shown like silver and never meant harm to anyone. She hoped that one day someone would truly make him happy, give him the happiness they never had the chance to have.

Glaring outside at the suburbs on her way toward her inheritance was not how she planned to spend her weekend. Avalon had received a letter from her mother, correction estranged mother whom thought it in her best interest to check into the place. She wasn't a heartless person; she still had feelings for her mother. (Buried under the resentment someplace.) Her mother had left her father to raise her, he did well for the little work he did get and she was quite happy. Her resentment stemmed from her mother re-marrying a wealthier man and never offering to help her daughter, her own father passed away two years ago and she was still hurt her own mother couldn't at the very least be there for her.

She glanced out her window at the pale houses of multiple colors; all of them looked alike with a nice matching car in the driveway, suburbs and from what she could see she wasn't going to be happy.

Places like this meant neighbors that felt it their mission to welcome you into their clicks, to wear proper styles and all resemble one another. She tried in vein to ignore the onlookers that watched her car thunder past. Avalon knew she needed a new muffler, that wasn't the half of the damage that needed to be fixed on her old car.

It ran and passed inspection, that was all that mattered to her at the moment. According to the letter it had been addressed to her father, leaving an estate and some sort of property in his name. It meant she had a place to live, since her apartment was in a now condemned building and she still hadn't gotten any assistance from her mother.

--Past Memory—

"Mom, the cops just come by today…" Avalon rarely called her mother, especially when crisis hit, but she was desperate at this point and had no alternative. "…my apartment building has been condemned, I have _nowhere_ to go." Her voice sounded hoarse to her and she tried to fight the overwhelming urge to cry.

A long pause greeted her before a woman's silky voice greeted her ears. "Oh sugar, I am so sorry to hear that." A brief pause before a low sigh echoed back into Avalon's ear. "What are you going to do baby, is there a friend you can stay with…maybe one of your boyfriends?"

She was stunned and yet this was no surprise, why would her own mother want her to move in with her and her pretty new life. Avalon was a memory, something her mother found common, like something on her shoe.

"No mother I don't." She nearly spat, her voice on the verge of venom. "I thought you could help me." She stated plainly before hearing a startled sound.

"Young lady, do not take that tone with me." Her mother was reprimanding her; she couldn't believe this woman had given birth to her. "I will talk with Reggie, but I can't promise anything sweetie, I do have the boys and your sister Marie to contend with after all." Naturally her rich husband and three half siblings came first; Avalon was nothing in her life but something to call when she had a nail crisis.

"Forget it. I will live on the street first." With that she slammed down the phone and swore until her throat burned.

--End Memory—

Avalon still hadn't spoken with her mother; it had been two weeks and still counting. By some miracle during her packing to get out of the place and manage a hotel on her small wages from the diner, she found a letter in her mailbox.

She had been left an estate and all its contents due to a friend of her fathers, from what she gathered he must have been a really good friend. She had money, a place to live and hopefully wouldn't have to deal with her estrange family for a while.

"Montgomery Flannery, dad's name still sounds funny on this letter, I always heard his friends call him Monty." Eyeing the papers that she had collected from the lawyer on her first stop off into town, she had also managed some groceries.

Unfortunately when she hit the main part of the suburbs she realized she wasn't entirely sure which of the estates, or mirror like houses were her own. Rolling down her window she approached an older woman off to the side; she was tending a garden and had little hands helping her. Her grandchildren Avalon assumed allowing the briefest of smiles to cross her lips; she missed childhood with her father.

"Ma'am?" glancing up the elder woman took notice to the beaten blue half rusted car behind her and a young woman waving to get her attention. "Can you help me please?"

Smiling warmly the elderly woman climb to her feet, speaking with her grandchildren before waving Avalon over to join them. That hadn't been her plan but now that she was stuck without knowing which house was hers she sighed climbing from the jeep and shutting the door behind her, her gaze fell to the rust particles that landed in the road and she made a face.

"Hello miss." The woman offered, brushing at an old blouse and jeans, her bun giving her an oddly youthful look.

Her wrinkles didn't hide the brown eyes full of life and laughter, her wrinkles appeared well earned from the young ones running around the yard. Avalon found herself liking the woman and offered her hand in an introductory fashion.

"Avalon Flannery." The elderly woman smiled seeing shaking her hand, before Avalon reached into her purse and pulled out some papers. "I inherited an estate or something through my father. Apparently he had a good friend and I have absolutely no idea where I'm going."

"Relax Avalon." The woman offered her hand in hopes of giving the frazzled girl some assistance. "Kim Smith by the way and those are my grandchildren and great grandchildren." Avalon smiled at the proud way the woman pointed out the now muddied kids having a war among the dirt and water. Kim ruffled the papers getting an idea of what she was looking for and let out a startled sound, the papers fluttering to her feet.

"No worries." Avalon hadn't noticed her reaction, or how her weathered hands shook when she cupped her mouth. "Kim, can you help…" she stopped seeing the woman had nearly turned white.

Kim knew the place very well, it had been years and yet he still haunted her dreams. The sweet boy with scissorhands that gave his heart to her and yet their love could never blossom. He had been misunderstood and now here was a girl seeking his shelter, the one who was now the owner of the long abandoned estate. _"Can she be the one I wished for? The one to understand that he is special and needs to be cared for, someone to heal the wounds that probably still remain."_ Her dark gaze met intent green eyes, wind blowing the light waist length brown hair into Avalon's pale face.

Kim sized up the young woman before her, wearing an oversized top that revealed her shoulders, large silver hoop earrings and a pair of bellbottom jeans. She had square heeled boots and many bracelets on her wrists. For some reason she was sure this woman was the one, the one girl that could possibly befriend him.

"I apologize, that house has always had a bit of stories and legends about it. I was caught by surprise. It's been abandoned for years, didn't know it was owned by anyone but the estranged inventor that passed away many years ago." Slowly Kim pointed to the castle, on the hill at the end of suburbia, behind tall iron gates and overgrown vines.

_"That?_" she was stunned to see where she would now live, it wasn't the fact that it looked ancient and like it come from an old horror movie. It was more than she had expected, it was away from what she already could see was a difficult place to live, if you valued privacy. The neighbors were already out and about trying to figure her out and Kim took notice to this, before hiding a grimace and forcing a smile.

"It's beautiful." Kim hadn't expected that at all, most people found it frightening or a cursed place. "Have you ever seen it Kim?" here is where the conversation she would have with Avalon got considerably difficult.

"A _long_ time ago." Kim felt her eyes sting briefly before shaking it off. "It is a truly gorgeous place, everything there is unique and beautiful no matter what anyone ever thought." Avalon did not miss the odd bitter tone in her voice, but brushed it aside.

"Avalon?"

"Yes?"

"Remember one thing for me please." Finding the request odd, but not hard Avalon nodded. "Nothing in that place is evil, just hurt and misunderstood." That was even stranger for Avalon to grasp, but she decided that it was harmless enough and nodded again.

"I will remember that Kim and thank you so much for your help." She quickly returned to her car and started her way to home, a new place and life where she could truly be herself.

She got to those tall iron gates; vines had grown nearly concealing the entrance into the estate, she climb from her car and attempted to push the gates open with little success. Grunting she made an even stronger effort, hearing popping sounds when the vines gave and she managed a tiny space through the bars. It still was not big enough, even with more effort she still couldn't get them to budge.

"Damn it." She growled kicking at the gates and wincing at the pain that shot through her toes and leg. "That was intelligent." She considered her options and went for her car.

Slowly she drove the car into the gates, ignoring the grating sound and finally forcing her way through. Before continuing her drive up the pathway, she climb out hauling the gates shut, which proved to be much easier than the previous pushing them open. Back inside her car she made her way with car up the dirt path, avoiding fallen sticks, holes and rocky spots.

Finally she came into a large circular drive and slammed on the breaks, before her was a massive garden unlike anything she had seen before. All the bushes were carved in varying animals, and things alike, the one thing that struck her was the center piece of the main garden. A beautifully crafted human hand was open in a form of acceptance; it was sculpted beautifully and seemed like it was the one bush giving life to the flowers around.

She conscientiously stepped from her car almost afraid that she would shatter the image before her. Her eyes finally moved past the gardens and straight up to the large castle like house. It was gloomy from her point of view, with ancient doors and windows, it appeared almost carved from some story.

Slowly her lips turned up into a true soft smile, she already felt safe and at home. She didn't know much about her father's family or his friends, but she was truly grateful to whomever the person was that left the estate to him. It may not have been good enough for her mother or anyone else, but she loved it and the gardens took her breath away.

Her attention to the building didn't go unnoticed by the lone figure staring from a broken window in the attic, she didn't see the worried look that passed across the persons features, or hear the nervous sound of scissors clacking over the birds outside.

Watching the girl from the height a boy, now somewhat a man glanced down at the brown haired woman below him. He had seen her car pull up into the main courtyard, something no one had done since his father had been alive. There had not been a visitor to his home since that horrible incident years before, sadly it was still fresh and the pain still lingered making him regret knowing anything of the outside world, only one thing had been good and she was no longer with him.

Glancing down at his silver scissor handed blades, he clicked them again, a nervous habit he had formed over years alone and his encounter that would forever haunt him. This stranger shouldn't have come to his home; he didn't dare approach her for fear of more harm and danger touching his creative soul. His only hope was that she would leave soon; he would have to find a way to get around without being seen and keep tending the gardens.

It wouldn't be proper to let the house go from his care because of some strange woman entering his world. He had made a promise to keep the house like it should be to the best of his ability, he had promised his father to take care of himself and everything.

Again Avalon found herself struggling to push open the massive doors of the building, she was sure all this heavy lifting would eventually wear her down. Tiredly she finally got them to part and let her inside, she froze coughing when she was greeted by a cloud of dust.

Wind from outside had proven to be difficult and caused the dust cloud to greet her. _"First things first, I need to clean this place…up."_ Her eyes cleared showing her just how truly large the mansion really was, the stairs seemed to go on forever, leading to two large halls and from what she could guess a great deal more rooms. It was huge, her eyes leveled on something to her right, cautiously and inquisitively she stepped toward the strange fixture with many shadows in the darkened her, her feet making footprints across the black and white tiled floor.

She studied the machine closely, seeing that it was a conveyor belt with mixers, bowls and rolling pins. She got closer giggling when she saw a fixture resembling a human's foot and noticed cookie cutters among the skinny legs. _"It's a cookie machine."_ She realized seeing it hadn't been used in years and then seeing the small oven.

"An inventor, that is what Kim told me. I bet my father was friends with him."

Avalon stifled amusement before staring around the room and then walking back into the entry hall. She caught something out of the corner of her eye and froze, head slowly turning toward the stairs to the second floor. She remained there staring for several seconds, before shrugging it off and going to gather her belongings from the car.

Eyes closed tightly he leaned within the hall against the wall, she had almost seen him and wasn't quite like he expected. She had sharp senses, good hearing and did not let things go unnoticed. Taking a breath he relaxed daring a glance back out toward the hall and saw her exit the house. _"She's leaving."_ He began to relax more, slowly turning to stare at the door before jumping seeing her return with cases in hand, followed shortly by boxes and more items.

_"She's staying!"_ He felt his mouth drop eyes widening at this concept, she wasn't supposed to stay or move her things into the house. This was his home and his father left him to protect it. He hadn't realized how stressed he was until she paused again, her head tilting strangely toward his direction. Peering down he noticed he was flicking his scissor hands quickly creating a familiar sound to him.

Avalon hauled in her small box of books, before hearing a strange slicing sound, whispers of blades from her past working in a restaurant. It was common for those skilled with sharpening blades, or slicing foods. The whispers made her attempt to discover the noise; almost with a mind of their own her feet began to guide her slowly up the stairs.


	2. Ordinary Day

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_Here's chapter 2 and hopefully Chapter 3 will be up very soon. I'm just correcting and doing a few re-writes. Enjoy.  
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Chapter 2: Ordinary Day**

Realizing he had given away his relative position, quickly he scrambled into a hidden hall and made a dash for his attic sanctuary. He would have to find a way to stay out of her sight and hope that their paths didn't cross.

Listening he heard her voice; it was soft and had a note of something that reminded him of a long forgotten past. A kind woman with brown eyes and golden hair, quickly he escaped into the hidden darkness of a fireplace and hoped she didn't find him.

Pausing on the landing of the stairs Avalon glances about for signs of life, nothing is present and the sound is gone. Her intent expression turns into a sour frown, she was sure she wasn't alone in the house. _"Of course I tend to let my imagination win."_ Shaking off the strange feelings she had she turned back to her work ahead of her.

Her first plan was to start her way at the bottom and work her way to the top. She planned out a long list of cleaning supplies, things she would need to by to keep up the house and hopefully once she got it done, she could handle the large home on her own.

She considered she could get a roommate or three, but didn't like the idea of her new life being full of people she couldn't trust. Her main issue was trust, her only friend had been her father and anything other than that always seemed to get complicated quickly.

Glancing over the invention that made cookies again, she smiled and decided that she would clean the kitchen area first. She liked the various inventions she found; they were unique and hit a cord in her heart. There was so much love in the unusual inventions and to her surprise most of them would still work. She had been fairly good at fixing things and in the process of fixing the machines into working order again; she learned what each could do.

Her favorite was the cookie machine though, it was just cute and even if someone would find her idea of beauty odd, she still liked it. She realized during her work and recent stop to the store she was tired and decided to make sandwiches for the night. Turning to her piles of things she made her way slowly past and found a sitting room of sorts off to the side, she built a fire within the fireplace, checking the flue for blockage and took an old blanket of hers to a large couch with her. Settling down on the black couch, the dust had little effect on her, wrapped snuggly in her blanket and soon she was fast asleep.

Silence seemed to stretch forever; he had heard nothing for an hour. Figuring she had probably finally if he was lucky left, he navigated his way silently back down the stairs. Seeing firelight coming from the sitting room off to his right he decided to investigate.

Careful of his scissor hands making noise, he paused in the doorway and stared. There was the woman curled on the couch asleep, her hair hanging of the side fanning out in a light brown mass. Tensely he stepped into the room, ears on alert for any sign she wasn't resting, finally with vigilance he stepped as near as he dared.

Dark eyes leveled with a soft face, her skin was peach like, pale and he noted her face seemed kind. He couldn't help but stare, it had been years since he had been around another person. Years were a harsh reality for him, but he was used to being alone before he had been brought into the horrors of suburbia and misunderstandings of his nature.

"Who are you?" he wondered softly, seeing her shift but not stir.

He was relieved she hadn't heard him, it wouldn't be right for her to know she wasn't alone. He was afraid, fearful of being hurt again and of doing something so unthinkable ever again. It had been to protect Kim, he had been hurt by people who misunderstood the real him, he had become the monster they claimed and yet was still tender and kind.

"_Not a monster, something different."_ He stiffened seeing her shift in her sleep, before she rolled settling deep into the couch. Her blanket had fallen from her arms, revealing a spaghetti strapped black top covered in dust, he guided his hands down gently lifting the blanket back in place and left.

Feeling strangely tingly Avalon woke with a groggy start, feeling for her blanket and finding it still tucked snuggly around her. That was odd, she had never been good at staying snuggled in the blankets and often awoke cold and annoyed. Slowly she shifted upright on the couch and lifted the lavender blanket up to see if there was a trick to it.

"I feel stupid." Yawning she stood stretching and turned seeing red embers greeting her from the fireplace.

She felt gooseflesh on her arms but disregarded the feeling searching for some sign of life, she got the incredible sensation she wasn't alone but decided to shrug it off. Going into the kitchen she decided to investigate the water situation, she jumped when a slick brownish liquid greeted the sink and it followed with cool water. Unfortunately it wasn't kind to her and the air made the water splatter her and soak her through. It had certainly been a long time since anyone used the sink; the water now flowed smoothly, naturally according to her luck not before it drenched her and her cloths.

Sighing she made a face, squishing her way toward the entryway again; she calmly fished out dry cloths and hesitated before grabbing a fire poker. She was smart and wasn't so sure her misgivings were misplaced. It felt better to have a weapon anyway. (At least she kept telling herself that.)

Peering into both halls she slowly made her way to each doorway. She found a music room, library that was so massive she had to crane her neck to the skylight above, before she hustled out of the room. _"I feel dizzy."_ Rubbing her head she continued to investigate the rooms and finally found a huge bathroom, she quickly went in and glanced around.

It wasn't clean, but wasn't exactly filthy like it hadn't been cleaned in years. She ventured a glance in the tub and decided on a shower just to be safe for the moment. She rinsed the tub as best she could and found herself getting soaked again, before the showerhead decided to work properly.

She stripped of her soggy cloths and took a quick shower, before struggling with a pair of blue jeans and an oversized t-shirt. Her clothes looked like moths had eaten them, but they were her working on the house clothes and their look didn't matter.

Her first mission to accomplish was to find out why the water pressure was so heavy, she grabbed her tools before going around the lower area in search of a basement door. It took her about two hours, but she finally found it in the kitchen off to the side. She had been to busy being drenched to see it.

Her first instinct when she opened the door was to make a face; the entry way was thick with webs. She wasn't sure if they were dust or spider and personally hoped for the first option. _"Ew."_ Reluctant to venture into the doorway and find a light switch she took out her wrench from her tools. She waved the wrench managing to loose a good gap of webs and glanced on the walls.

_Click_

Her finger found a switch, the light momentarily blinding her because she had gotten used to the gloom of the stairwell. Glancing down she shuddered, it was creepy and full of more webs. Her heart sank when something black scuttled down the banister off the stairs. She wasn't terrified of spiders, she just wasn't a fan. (That was a blatant _lie_, they scared her and she wasn't going any further.)

"Being wet isn't so bad." She remarked to no one feeling silly for a moment before her feet led her down a step. "Don't look." She instructed herself somehow finding herself in the middle of the basement and peering around.

She carefully mindful to avoid anything with eight legs went to work on the water pipes and other utilities downstairs. She was grateful her father had been a fair jack of all trades and taught her a good deal to survive on her own if needed.

He had gauged her reactions to waking up still covered. She been disoriented and appeared uncomfortable at first, and then she just went on her way to attend to the house. He watched her reaction to getting wet and found himself smiling; he also was very embarrassed when he saw her going into the bathroom. He didn't venture further after her, he knew she needed privacy and respected that. He was not some pervert and immediately turned to go about his work of the grounds.

"_She can stay; I just need to stay out of her sight."_ A light click of the door indicated he was gone out to do his work, while Avalon spent her morning downstairs in web central.

Screeching Avalon bolted up the stairs doing a sort of dance before a black eight legged spider fell to the floor and scuttled under the refrigerator. She shook herself like some wet dog before calming enough to realize she was safe. Reluctantly she scanned her body and found no sign of more of them. A relieved breath left her lips before she glanced up carefully at where her nightmare disappeared to.

"Bug spray. I need some." She left the kitchen going to find the canisters she had bought, she knew old houses had bugs; spiders were the worst in her opinion.

Mice she could handle, as well as bats, other insects, snakes and rats. Spiders she could not and _would not_ handle.

She had successfully returned her water and other utilities to running use. Spiders beware she had spray and used it more than she cared to reflect. Glancing around her she noticed that the gardens outside seemed to be different, peering out the backside of the house through one of the dusty kitchen windows she went to investigate and found a sculpture she hadn't noticed, the fairy girl was kneeling among bushes of flowers.

"Pretty." Her eyes roamed the yard for life other than herself.

The grounds had to have a keeper, nothing from the law office or her papers had indicated one. She adored whoever did the work and wanted to thank them for making her home so beautiful. Upon further inspection of the grounds she saw no one, before going back into the house she heard the familiar sounds of sheering.

Her mind made up she went to investigate the sounds, hopefully she wouldn't be too shocked at what she found. She had never been one to get on with people; they tended to make her feel awkward. Her father had been the people person; often getting her involved in things and having his friends adore her like she was a child of their own.

Again she found herself missing her father.


	3. Follow Me

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N: Another update, enjoy!_

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Chapter 3: Follow Me**

He finished work on trimming the animals at the back part of the house, smiling when familiar animals shifted about the yard and glanced up at the sun. It was a warm day and he was curious to how his new house guest was doing. Birds fluttered off and the animals that had been so used to him disappeared rapidly, this was new.

They had grown so used to the docile nature of him and his sheering that they often lingered around him like he himself was a hedge or part of the gardens. Instincts took over and he hurriedly retreated into the shadows of several tall hedges, two were large unicorns, the last was a massive dragon and he used the body to conceal himself.

Moments later Avalon come around the house moving swiftly, she halted nearly tripping over her own feet and felt her mouth drop. This part of the house grounds was a fantasy paradise, her eyes fixated on the dragons, unicorns, sea-serpents and many other creatures she recognized and didn't.

She had never heard of a grounds keeper doing this kind of sculpting and felt she didn't deserve this beauty. Avalon figured if she wasn't good enough for her mother, she wasn't good enough for anyone. The only person that had shown her otherwise had died trying to make her life happy.

Avalon blamed herself sometimes for her father's death.

"Hello?" She felt ridiculous looking for the gardener, she could have sworn she was alone and was sure of it.

There was no sign of another soul or a form of any sort of transportation. _"A ghost?"_ She scoffed laughing at the ludicrous idea of that, she didn't believe in them. Ghosts were stories to amuse children afraid of the dark and fond of scary things. She had her fill of scary from spiders, her mother and the day her father died.

She turned to return to the house but paused, she couldn't take her eyes off the lovely gardens and how lucky she was to live in such a fascinating place. She actually didn't want to go back to work, would have rather stayed and watched the sun set among the paradise before her.

Dark eyes watched her; he did all he could to keep his scissors silent and himself hidden. Watching her he had seen the delight his creations had given Avalon and then he saw a sort of sad look. He didn't like it when she didn't smile, he hadn't wanted to be near people in so long he felt odd watching her and also afraid of being discovered.

He didn't want to be seen as a monster again, he didn't want her to see him as a creature of horror.

He didn't know that she would not see someone who could create such wonderful things as a monster; in turn she didn't know a wonderful man like himself could create magical wonders such as the ones she couldn't take her eyes off.

This was bound to get complicated in the future, if one or the other didn't discover the other soon.

Running back to the house Avalon returned to working on her new home, she focused on the rooms he had stayed the night in. She cleaned the fireplace thoroughly before glancing in the large mirror above it. She was black; soot took over her pale complexion and tinted her hair. Giggling she couldn't help but remember the first time she had helped her father clean a fireplace, ashes had fallen and caked her from head to toe. It had not bothered her in the least and actually made her feel special.

She decided to go to work beating the cushions, rugs and heavy drapes of the dust that had soaked into the soft materials. Gagging outside at the dust that seemed to cloud her vision she coughed, sneezed and cursed dust to hell. Finally she managed to get them suitable and went about vacuuming the room, mopping the tiles parts in front of the fireplace and over all turning the room into a shining clean example.

Something she found at the end of her hard work, she was not. She was filthy and that was putting it mildly. Disgusted with how she looked she nearly ran up the stairs and halted at the bathroom. She remembered she hadn't cleaned the tub or the facility up yet, another shower was her option which she took willingly.

Watching the dirt spiral down the drain in dark torrents she made a face again, cleaning this place up would also require her to stock up on shampoo, body wash, soap, bubble bath and other necessities. She shrugged feeling the warm water massage her now aching body, beggars could not be choosers and she was happy to have a place to call home.

Reluctant to leave the shower the water turned cold reminding her she didn't have a choice. She slipped out wrapping herself in an oversized blue robe, before toweling her hair dry to the best of her ability. She felt pretty good even if she had a war with dirt and spiders for the day. She turned going down the stairs and made herself something for dinner flopping on the couch exhausted. She glanced into the dancing flames of the fire she had built and began to doze, tomorrow would be another tiring day for her.

Listening intently he was sure she was asleep, he had quietly slipped down the stairs to make sure she was covered and was warm enough. He had come to be a sort of protector over the new guest; he had no idea why but for the time being he did what he could.

Careful not to make noise he lifted her blanket over her and tucked it in as much as he dared. He didn't want her to awaken and find him; it would be a distressing situation he was not ready to deal with. She moaned softly in her sleep startling him, he clacked his scissors frightfully before stopping realizing she hadn't woken.

"Who are you?" he whispered hoping she didn't hear him and allowing his taught body to relax, she was a girl, harmless to him and yet he was scared of her.

He watched her sleep; standing guard over the girl he did not know feeling an urge to protect her. Her sadness still haunted him, the lost look and deep pain had been in her eyes while she watched his world. Her pain somehow connected with him and he just couldn't help but be pulled in by those eyes, he wanted to help her.

Edward wanted to be the silent knight that watched over the princess.


	4. My Sister

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N: I seem to be doing fairly well with the flow of this, I missed writing so hopefully I can keep a steady rhythm going. Any Comments, reviews welcome. Thank you for reading._

A/N: June/28/2011:Thanks to Cheeto-ScorpioDimagram_ for noticing I was missing part of this chapter. I've finally gotten to fix it after finding my files. Now I hope it makes more sense.  
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**Chapter 4: My Sister**

A strange noise made Edward jerk awake, he realized with alarm he had dozed off in a chair across from her and stood seeing the noise was waking her. He sped from the room quickly making it up the stairs in hopes to remain hidden from her.

Groaning Avalon rolled finding herself covered and paused to reflect, the noise made her focus on her cell instead of the blanket. Peering at the caller I.D. she frowned debating on whether to answer or not. It had been two weeks and now two days, maybe her mother finally got the hint?

Groggy and not in the mood Avalon made her first mistake of the day, she answered.

"Hello?" her mouth felt like it was full of cotton and she ached from the other day.

There was a huff on the other end. "You little brat, how dare you not call your mother for two weeks and tell me off. I should disown you." Avalon tuned out the next ten minutes of how her mother had given birth to her, took care of her, and loved her.

Her mother was so full of it. "You _did_ disown me." Avalon managed getting a word in edge wise. "You were the one that _indicated_ you didn't want to help, I did what I did best…" she paused for a dramatic effect. "…I took _care_ of myself."

"There's no need to get snippy with me young lady. I am _still_ your mother." She rolled her eyes, that didn't mean that Avalon was going to admit to it. "I need you to do something for me; you owe me for putting me through all the worry for these past few days, it felt like years." She scowled, her mother always did this to her and she let her.

"What now mother?" She didn't hide the loathing in her voice; this woman was nothing to her anymore and proved to be a bigger nuisance than help.

"You're little sister needs a place to stay during her school break, she annoyed me and your father…

" _Step-_father." She cut in with anger.

"She isn't going to Paris with us." Avalon's mother did her wonderful I only hear what I want talent and again ticked her off. "She's being such a little…er…gremlin and I thought you could handle her. You have nothing better to do, so I thought of you right away."

"Gee, thanks mom…just love you too." The sarcasm went unnoticed; her mother gave her directions for her little sisters' pickup and when she should have her on the bus back home, before hanging up.

Avalon hadn't even given her consent; her mother just dumped her youngest half sister in her lap. She muttered furiously for a few minutes before flopping back on the couch.

Avalon didn't hate her youngest sister; she actually was the only person in that part of her family she _did_ like. She reflected Nakeesha had been the only of her half siblings that called her sister and her father dad. It is sad to say the girl hated her own parents and replaced them with her half parent and half sister; they disowned Nakeesha in their own way.

She realized she didn't have long before she would have to go and get the girl, her mother as always sent Nakeesha out before asking permission. It was a guarantee that Avalon couldn't say no. She went about getting ready to get Nakeesha, showering quickly and tugging on a black sweatshirt and jeans.

He noticed the change in her demeanor the way her conversation had went and wondered what could make her so angry. His experience with parents had been wonderful, his father loved him dearly and here was a girl that hated her own _mother_. He didn't understand but wanted to; he didn't know how without showing himself and that wasn't an option.

_CRASH_

He glanced down around from his hiding spot and saw Avalon sprawled across the floor glaring at a box of items. She had found them the hard way from what he could gather. Swearing which made him blush a bit he watched her leave, the door shutting silently behind her.

Avalon dually noted that the door was too heavy to get a satisfying slam out of it. She marched to her car still in a haze of fury before driving out of the mansion driveway and going into suburbia again. The matching houses and colors seemed to mock her and her car, she frowned continuing past them and onto the main road leading to the nearest bus station.

An hour later she was standing outside a glass terminal full of bodies going from one bus to another. She avoided the rude people, mindful of a guy close to her age interested in her from afar. She didn't date, hadn't in a long time and was happy to avoid it for now. She had, had an abusive boyfriend. He wasn't physical but the verbal abuse was enough to make her swear of guys for a while. He was part of the reason she had ended up in a condemned apartment to begin with.

A girl about sixteen tops with knee length raven hair and wide blue eyes was coming toward her. Avalon noticed with a small smile she wore black pants with chains, a 'My Chemical Romance' t-shirt and lugged a cart behind her with three dozen or so bags. Nakeesha always over packed hoping to finally live with Avalon, anything was better than what she had to put up with at home.

She stopped glancing up at her half sister; she was still about a foot shorter than Avalon and smiled warmly. She hugged her so tight Avalon thought she heard a rib or two break. Stepping back Nakeesha glanced behind her and spotted the run down car.

"It still runs?" Avalon laughed ruffling up her sisters' hair before watching her make a face.

"Yes, quite well I might add." Nakeesha nodded starting to hall her things into the car and studied her half sister closely.

Avalon looked older than she really was, clearly she still missed her dad and she too missed Monty. He was more a father to her than her own. She saw that even though these things were hard on Avalon, she looked for once happy and fitter than she remembered from her last visit.

Avalon noticed the critical look she was getting; sometimes she could have sworn Nakeesha was thirty instead of sixteen, the girl _always_ worried about her. She knew that her younger half sister would love the house; she would also have help for a while. Unlike her Nakeesha loved spiders, she could deal with that issue while Avalon did her best to beat the furniture and repair things.

Her first impression at Nakeesha seeing the house was the girl was going to faint, that's when the younger of the two saw the gardens. Her eyes locked on the hand as the center piece and turned quizzically toward her sister.

"It was like this before I came."

"Who is the grounds keeper?" Nakeesha questioned.

"I wish I knew, I would love to thank him and ask why he's wasting his talent on me." Nakeesha frowned at Avalon putting herself down; since she dumped the jerk she had become mousey.

It wasn't like Avalon had been positive before, but her ex-boyfriend did a number on what self esteem she did have. Nakeesha missed Monty he had always had a talent at making her feel better and was good at making Avalon think positive. When he died she thought that part of Avalon left with him.

Edward watched her return and nearly choked, she had brought a younger guest with her. He silently prayed that this one wouldn't stay also. Regarding the new arrival he saw some similarities with Avalon. Facial mostly, otherwise they looked like total opposites. He observed Avalon unpack things and help the girl into the house and sighed.

He decided that a low profile would be more important now; he couldn't believe how things had gone from routine to disarray in such a short time.

"NAKEESHA!" Avalon had already lost the little misfit; she glanced around the side room she had stayed in the past few days eyeing her half sisters' luggage with trepidation. "She always does this." She knew that she had to find a place to put her sister and the luggage.

Otherwise she would never get anything done with all the clutter between her stuff and her half sisters'. She heard her sister come rushing down the stairs, she turned in time to see the girl slide partway down the banister and jump to the floor with a click of her heeled boots.

"I love it Avalon." She smiled forgetting her annoyance at the over packed amount of things in the front entry way.

"I do too; now find someplace to store your home." She grinned at Avalon's un-amused look before both burst into laughter.

It was good to see her again Avalon wouldn't admit how much she missed the company. After her father died she was too much of a wreck to contact Nakeesha let alone visit with her.

He stood there listening to the girls, the laughter made him jump until he realized he was still safe. Her laughter brought a smile to his scarred lips, he liked when his guest was happy. _"Avalon."_ He liked her name, it was familiar to him and due to that he decided to make his way to the library, his father had told him many stories before he died. He also showed Edward how to open a book without slicing it to pieces.

He had yet to accomplish how to put them back after knocking them off their shelves, his father used to do that for him.

It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for; he opened the book and read the passage about King Arthur heading to his resting place in the fields of Avalon, the place where the lady of the lake told Merlin the great King would return to rule someday again. He loved that story and many others; his favorite being Edgar Allen Poe, his father was fond of that one.

Avalon had her help and it wasn't long before both girls were in junky clothes scrubbing the many rooms from top to bottom. Both were laughing, enjoying each others company and even though the cleaning was disgusting, they were happy. It wasn't long before both of them made an effort of moving furniture and Avalon let out a screech jumping around madly.

Nakeesha laughed at her before collecting each spider she found and tossing them out into the world outside. She never did understand the issue Avalon shared with the eight legged arachnids and never tried. It wasn't long before both girls had showered, were both curled at opposite ends of the couch and relaxing for the night.

They hadn't gotten upstairs yet and Avalon didn't really care, she liked Nakeesha's company. Both chatted about what they had been up to, she learned that her younger half had thrown a fit over her mother ditching her. That was the reason Nakeesha was with Avalon now, she had fought for her sister and ended up ticking off both parents and the rest of her siblings.

Avalon laughed; someday her mother would realize that Nakeesha was her evil twin, just younger. She fell asleep before Nakeesha; the younger of the two lay awake watching her. She still dreamed of her father's death, still cried in her sleep and still clung to her blanket like it was her anchor.

Nakeesha hated seeing her sister like this; her father had died of a heart-attack in their house. She had tried to keep him with her and the man died in her arms before help arrived. She had beat herself up over it for so long it was typical, Nakeesha could never get it through Avalon's head that no one knew that Monty would die of heart failure, he had been a picture of health until that day.

At sixteen she was wiser than most her age, her home life wasn't the greatest and she was jealous of Avalon having such a great dad. Hers was so engrossed in being a lawyer and her mother he often ignored her most. The other kids were happy with daddy's money and she wasn't.

Expressing that often got her sent to Avalon and Monty, now it was just her sister. She heard noise upstairs and curious she climbs from the couch. Avalon would be fine while she explored, she rarely slept much during her visits with her sister. She was often to busy having fun to care if she did.

"Hello?" her voice didn't carry far and she sighed grabbing a fire poker off from the fireplace; she wasn't going off on her own if there was a thief or someone in the house.

She was familiar with burglary; she lived in a rich part of a city and knew what types her area attracted. She started up the stairs following the sounds and being as silent as possible.

He realized the younger of the two had still been awake, he had been so surprised by this he made noise. Unintended noise and it got her attention; he made a hasty retreat up the stairs and kept going to his attic home. He moved into the fireplace in hopes of hiding, he didn't want to be found. He was still afraid; he had good reason because all that happened was still too fresh.

"Anyone?" He froze hearing her calling softly up the stairs; she was at the attic steps and appeared to be coming.

He felt his body shaking, he knew his scissors were making noise but he couldn't stop. If he was found he would loose it all. His home, his secrecy, the town would come after him again. He would be put behind those bars again. He would be treated like a freak, his eyes blurred; he had no idea what was going to happen to him.

Nakeesha stopped straining her ears; she could hear something within the shadows above her. She made her way up another set of stairs. _"Attic?"_ she wondered remembering the floors at the top of the mansion and recalling a broken window. If that was how the intruder got into the house, he was nuts. (At least in her opinion.)

She stopped staring around the gloom. The place was littered with papers, broken debris and leaves. It looked like it hadn't seen life in decades, except for the obvious footprints in the dust. She mulled over that those prints could be Avalon's before she measured them with her own feet. Her half sisters feet were smaller than her size eights, were much bigger, she figured they belonged to someone male at best guess and glance.

She raised the poker ready to swing, a sixteen year old girl could never be too careful. She scanned the area closely and saw nothing out of the ordinary. She had considered turning back but heard a sheering sound; she knew these because she had helped Avalon when she worked in a restaurant.

"Come out." She stated huskily, fear gripped her voice and she was not sure it was wise to confront the threat.

He didn't want to come out and remained there, he stopped his hands long enough to hope she didn't locate him. Unfortunately for Edward she was good at finding out where sounds came from and lifted her weapon of choice aiming for his hiding place.

Feeling braver now that she held her weapon at the ready Nakeesha walked toward the fireplace, she heard the sheering sounds stop and start again more rapidly than ever.

"_Come_ out I am not asking a third time." Her voice wavered but she sounded firm. (At least to her ears.)

Hesitating he tried to figure out his options, both girls seemed nice but that was because they didn't know he was there. Looks were deceiving; he learned this the hard way.

"Don't hurt me?" the soft voice made her hesitate, it was gentle non-threatening and the clicking seemed to quicken with the fear in that voice.

"I won't." Nakeesha whispered unsure if it was wise to say such a thing.

He was scared to death but slowly he exited the fireplace, he heard her suck in a sharp breath watching him come into what little light there was offered by the full moon. Her eyes followed the sharp objects that seemed to serve as his hands, finally she met the soft dark eyes and the face of the person who begged her not to hurt him.

_"Hurt you! You've got more blades than a knife set."_ Wild raven hair greeted her, it did not lay down anywhere and gave him a sort of rock star effect, his skin looked like he rarely saw the sun and scars were prominent across his face. He wore a suite of black leather with what appeared to be hundreds of buckles, and other shining objects. His dark eyes had a sort of deer caught in the headlights look; he seemed frightened which she found odd and intriguing at the same time.

Realizing she was summing him up he too studied her. Long layered raven hair fell almost to her knees, with what looked like fire red streaks layered in the tresses. Wide blue eyes studied him, moving over him with caution and curiosity. He saw her fidget brushing her tattered t-shirt and silky pants, she wasn't sure of him but scared didn't fit either.

He saw a diamond in her nose, two eyebrow rings and her ears had several earrings that seemed to trail from bottom to top. Regardless of her strange appearance he was sure she found him stranger still. She lowered the fire poker to the ground her head cocking to the side.

The scissor hands gave her a notion which turned into an idea. "You keep the grounds; do all the plant sculptures and things?" Edward nodded worried she would call her sister; he didn't want to be hurt again or scare her. "Who are you?"

This was familiar; he didn't want to end up going back down to that _place_ again. He didn't want to answer at first. "Edward." He was surprised he did answer her.

"Edward?" He nodded; she tested his name on her tongue and smiled. He didn't strike her as dangerous even though his appearance stated contrary to that theory. "I'm Nakeesha Paige." She noticed a brief twitch of his lips, the smile didn't reach his eyes, he was scared of her.

Unsure of where to go next she lowered the poker to the floor and lifted her hands in a placid gesture. Edward felt twitchy but she seemed truly danger free, he stepped further into the light watching her eyes remain with his. Nakeesha made no move to run.

Getting a good look at him she saw something in his eyes and frowned, it reminded her of her sisters' sadness. She didn't like it. "Did someone hurt you?"

Edward recoiled at that before hesitantly nodding. "Yes."

Not much but at least he spoke, she wondered if Avalon knew about him. She contemplated that theory and shook her head; if she knew then he wouldn't have been hiding in the attic like some caged oddity. _"Avalon **will** freak."_ She mentally pictured the scenario and decided she didn't like the outcome. He was scared enough of her, her half sister going postal would not improve matters at all.

"I see." He seemed interested in her much like she was him. "Well Edward, I won't hurt you. I doubt that you want Avalon to know you're here though?" it was a question which he answered with a sad sort of grimace. "Thought not." Sighing she crossed her arms contemplating her sister, eventually she would get to the attic and discover him.

"You're not afraid of a monster?" he hated the word but he had to ask, that one word still haunted him.

She was shocked at how he referred to himself, she saw a boy about her sisters age give or take, scared of a sixteen year old girl and afraid of the world. How could he be a monster?

"You aren't." she stated vehemently before trying to figure out how to let her sister in on this _slowly_ so both her and he would not freak out. "Um…I know what you want but she will get to this attic eventually…um…you're going to have to show yourself sometime." He retreated back into the fireplace, hands making that same clicking sound she now knew the source of.

"I-I can't."

He sounded so hurt, feeble compared to his approach to her. He was afraid of something more than she could wrap her mind around. "You will have to soon, but not right now." She tried soothing him, it worked for the moment. "You're secrets safe with me but I have to get back to Avalon before she comes looking." He nodded deciding he kind of liked the younger girl, she seemed nice enough. "Goodnight Edward."

"Night." He managed softly watching her go.


	5. Magic Dance

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N: Due to lots of work I'm slower than usual, but I do have an update finally. Hopefully the next one should be up within the week. Thanks for the patience.  
_

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Chapter 5: Magic Dance**

Avalon didn't do much the next day except work; she saw her sister sneak off often but figured she was entitled. They were close but she knew very well she changed after her father died. She hadn't sought help and often found herself crying without him.

When she was alone things weren't much fun, now that Nakeesha was with her again she felt like her old self. She still had the feeling a ghost watched over her gardens, what struck her oddly was Nakeesha was acting stranger than usual.

_**CRASH**_

"Now what?" miserably she crawled from under the stiars where she had been doing some minor floor repairs. The sound had come from upstairs where her sibling promised to help her. "I hope she didn't get hurt."

Avalon was running up the stairs faster than would be recommended, skidding to a halt she followed cursing and found her sister stuck under a trunk that had fallen down the stairs she was dragging it from. Her sister was working on the attic apparently and found some less than pleasant heavy things.

"Are you alright Nakeesha?" glancing up her blue gaze widened, she didn't need Avalon to spot Edward.

--Before Avalon Come to the rescue—

Nakeesha decided to spend her day cleaning the upper levels of the house; mostly she wanted to talk to the strange man again. She liked Edward, he was nice and he looked like he could use a friend.

Going through the basement that day he had helped her where he could, she was determined to get the trunk down those stairs not long after she saw all the old blankets and things in it. Her sister could use them and she was quite sure that she wouldn't do anything but complain about the spiders and such in the attic.

"It's too heavy for you." He didn't like the fact that the trunk was nearly twice Nakeesha's size either.

She eyed the object with reflection over her own limitations. "True, but I doubt Avalon will want to come up here with those eight legged residence and _you_ don't want her to know you're here." _"Yet."_ He made a slight face before sighing, it wasn't like he could offer her help without hands, scissors didn't grab and haul things. "Relax Edward I'm quite adept at….

_**CRASH**_

--End of flash back—

Painfully she focused on her sister and nodded in answer to her question. Obviously she wasn't alright but she didn't want Avalon treating her like a mother with her child. Her older half sister had enough to deal with without adding her problems to the mix.

"Peachy sis." She managed avoiding a wince, the trunk weighed a ton and was right on her back thanks to her attention of the stairs and the fact she missed one.

Avalon went over trying to lift the object and her eyes bugged; she wasn't even sure how Nakeesha had moved the thing to begin with. In actuality Edward had given it a few pushes with his shoulders before Nakeesha took over.

"Heavy." Complained Avalon finally getting it to slide of with a 'thud' that echoed before she glanced over her sister with concern. "Are you _crazy?!_ That thing could have crushed you and I don't…" she tilts her head hearing those strange whispering knives again.

Nakeesha realized her sister heard Edward; he was the most nervous man she had ever met in her life. She suspected that was largely due to his isolation and whatever trauma he had suffered, apprehensive of him being discovered Nakeesha was on her feet and hauling on the trunk again.

It provided the distraction she needed and soon Avalon was pushing it while she pulled. Edward was safe from discovery for now but Nakeesha didn't know how long she could keep up this secret thing. She had never been good at keeping them from Avalon, it was part of their sisterly code and it made her feel unpleasant to say the very least.

Later after hauling the trunk down the girls had not only found blankets but many clothing items for both female and male. Each girl tried on the fancier gowns pretending they were at a ball or something; Avalon had already hooked up her small stereo amused when Nakeesha revealed half her music collection along with her own favorites.

Her sister often burned her copies of her music and always had an interesting variety. Nakeesha leaned toward the darker things, while Avalon often found herself liking the softer things as well as rock and other varieties. Both of them had a universal taste in music.

This was truly one of those times that Nakeesha saw Avalon come alive, laughter rang through the house and it seemed almost like Monty was still with them. It saddened her to see her sister so guilty over something she had no control over; their shared mother didn't help with her constant nagging, bickering and being a true snob.

"I'm exhausted." Avalon crashed on the couch in defeat, ignoring the fact she still had on an ankle length deep red velvet dress with spaghetti straps. "It was a _long_ day." She added drowsy and feeling her lids close with a defeated sigh.

Nakeesha watched her sleep for about a half hour, before deciding it would be alright to visit with Edward. He was probably worried about her accident from earlier and unsure whether it was safe to come out or not. Lifting the long skirt of her blue dress with sleeves that hugged her shoulders, she hauled them close to her hips and clacked noisily up the stairs.

Edward had grown used to her heavy boots and waited at the steps to the attic to see Nakeesha. He was glad to see she was alright and startled to see her in one of the many old dresses from the attic. She grinned noting his inquisitive look before she dropped the skirts and twirled.

"Like it?" she teased noting a brief tint to his pale face before he studied her unsure of what to say. "I was kidding with you Edward." He offered a tiny smile before seemingly loosing himself in thought.

"Does your sister wear one?" She found this sweet; he often asked her questions about Avalon and seemed to truly care about her well being.

"Yep, she's wearing the red one." He looked confused; she then described the dress seeing he now knew which one. "She looks pretty, want to come see?" she was kind of hoping his fear of her sister would dissipate after she had talked about her so much and answered his questions.

He shook his head eyes widening in fear again, he was still terrified. "No, no I c-can't." he barely whispered lowering his eyes almost like Nakeesha would be upset with him.

She wasn't, she stepped closer to her new friend and smiled warmly. "It's all good Edward." She had been around him enough that day to know he would not hurt her or Avalon; she pitied the fool that tried to though.

She knew how sweet, gentle and kind he was, but somehow she could see him being protective of them. She had a feeling his monster reference to himself had something to do with the past, she wished to know more about him so badly but feared she would frighten him into hiding again.

"She's asleep, I promise not to wake her if you want to see?" She was trying to coax him into meeting her sister, she didn't want him to keep hiding after she was gone, Avalon needed a friend too.

He shook his head watching her carefully, she wasn't deceiving him on purpose but he knew she was desperate for her sister to meet him and that terrified him deeply. She grinned cheekily before disappearing with the dress again in her hands.

Confused he watched the streak of blue disappear down the stairs and waited, she never left without saying goodbye. (With the exception of nearly killing herself that afternoon.) A few minutes later he heard her clomping up the stairs again and watched her bring in a small portable music player with her.

She settled on a slow song and walked over to Edward, he coward back when she opened both her hands toward him. He didn't know what she wanted, still unsure of the young girl that had befriended him by accident.

She frowned; he was so timid it often took all her patience not to tease him about it. "I just want to show you how to dance." His dark gaze met hers, dancing was not something he had tried but he knew what it was.

"I have no hands." Sadly he lifted his scissors watching her shrug.

"No need." To her amusement he lifted a brow unsure of what she meant, before she coaxed him into staying still. "Here we go." She said softly soothing his already frazzled nerves.

Gently she guided a hand behind her hoping not to slit the dress herself, she then grasped his wrist of the other hand aware of those blades and began to guide him. Directing him into a slow dance it wasn't too long before he got the basics and actually maintained pace with her. He laughed; it had been a long time since he felt happy.

Nakeesha was truly gifted with patience and complimented him when he did something correct. After about two hours she realized she was sleepy, it had been a very hard day and she was certain another would follow.

"Goodnight Edward." He smiled seeing her grasp at the music player and playfully bow in turn toward him.

"Thank you." He sounded unsure and yet thankful, she smiled again. "Sleep well."

"I will…and you're welcome." She was gone then, leaving him to recollect the magic of the dance he had been a part of.

"I like dancing." He smiled again, it had been so long since he felt this light he almost forgot why he had left the world outside.

Staring out across the stars he remembered blond hair and dark eyes, a woman that had once loved him but their love couldn't be. He grew lonely again, waiting for his next visit. He would be very sad when Nakeesha had to go home.


	6. State of Shock

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N: An update like I promised and a surprise, I found a way to wrangle two chapters. I hope you enjoy. I'll try and get the next update within the next week or less.  
_

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Chapter 6: State of Shock**

Avalon moved finding herself stuck, she opened her eyes stifling amusement when she realized that Nakeesha had cocooned herself in a blanket and was on her legs. They were tingling indicating they were asleep and she realized getting up would be a bit hard. She didn't want to wake the younger girl up and managed to somehow make it to the floor with minimal noise.

"_Ouch!"_ but she didn't avoid the pain that followed; rubbing her sore backside she shifted her legs until they stung. Once she stood the odd stinging tingle remained while she walked toward the stairs gathering her morning items, she would wake Nakeesha after her shower.

It was about twenty minutes before a shriek echoed throughout the house, Nakeesha shot up so fast she rolled off the couch and groaned in pain. Groggily she untangled herself and listened for signs of her sisters' distress, and then through her sleep soaked mind she registered one possibility. _"EWARD!_" panicked she bolted for the stairs nearly falling on her face twice.

Her sister was still yelling when she got to the bathroom, she almost collapsed in relief before Avalon wrapped herself in a towel and made a weird dance. "Get it please!" she nearly squealed watching Nakeesha pull herself into the bathroom and send the spider swirling down the toilet.

"All that racket for an arachnid." She shook her head seeing Avalon was not pleased with her humor. "Right, going away now." She indicated her retreat before her older half sister threw a fresh towel and clothing at her.

"Do that first, then get your bum down to the kitchen for breakfast. Welcome to hell, we're going back to work." Nakeesha went to protest, she was still tired after her late night dance with Edward.

"But I wanna sleep." She whined glancing at her sister with puppy eyes, almost begging for more sleep time.

"I did too, unfortunately after spidey, I'm wide awake. We'll call it an early night and I'll make sundaes?" Avalon knew her sister could not resist ice cream, especially sundaes.

"Evil and manipulative, you win." Avalon laughed watching Nakeesha hurriedly getting herself ready to shower.

Later both were eating her sisters special chocolate chip pancakes and planning where they were going to work. Nakeesha was determined to go back upstairs, so Avalon gave her the things she would need and told her to work on the library. She didn't want to deal with the spiders that might be living in there and the room still made her dizzy despite her love of books.

Upstairs inside the library Nakeesha had managed to convince Edward to join her, she could use the company and it helped that he knew the library. After ten minutes in the room she was sure she would get lost forever among the stairs. It had three floors and millions of books, thousands of shelves and ladders that looked like they were trimmed with copper designs of stars. She glanced down at the black and white checkered floor and grinned getting the idea of playing a game of chess with books, she resisted the urge to do that and went off to work.

"It's going to take years to do this." Nakeesha was still on the third floor and had planned to work her way down.

"Not really, with heavy rags I kept up with most of the dusting." Edward was at her side sharing his favorite stories and books with her as they worked. "Why do you remove the spiders, I never minded their presence really." She smiled softly at his kindness, the animals and insects of the world be aware that she had found the gentlest man in the world.

"Avalon despises them, they terrify her." Understanding instantly read in his expression and he began to help her clear them out. "Edward?" he made a face when he was greeted with dust from his work.

"Yes?" her tone had a hint of familiarity to it; it meant something that would involve her sister.

"Do you have any family?" he hadn't expected that and had to find words to use at her inquiry.

"I had my father, he was the inventor here." He hadn't shared much with her; he had been very interested in Avalon. "He made me…was giving me hands but he…" She saw tears gather; she recognized the sadness and sighed.

"I'm sorry Edward." He nearly jumped when she took a tissue from her pocket and dabbed his eyes.

She was surprised when one of his blades nicked her finger; she had startled him and should have know to take it slow. He started to apologize furiously before she lifted her hands, wrapping her finger with the tissue.

"Do not blame yourself; it was my fault and not yours. I shouldn't have alarmed you." He was aware of her watching him closely before he blushed feeling ashamed and lowered his gaze to the floor. "Edward please don't be angry with yourself, you're truly a wonderful person and…" she reflected seeing her words were getting his attention. "…and beautiful." He lifted his dark gaze unsure of what to think; he wasn't familiar with her kind words and felt odd.

"Um…thank you?"

"You're adorable." She smiled he was humble, sweet and it pained her to know someone had once hurt him. "Back to work?" he nodded trying to get out of the awkward conversation, he was unsure of her yet again.

Avalon had been doing her share of rooms downstairs and had successfully made most of the bottom floor livable. It was strange how well they worked together and got the house back into order. _"I wonder what she's doing?"_ curious to her sisters well being and wanting to make good on her sundaes promise she started toward the library, it must have taken her sister all day to clean that place.

Unlike her sister Avalon was quiet and favored it. She didn't wear the large heels her sister was fond of and didn't tromp around the house announcing she was a rebel. She heard her sister's voice and wondered who she could be talking to except herself.


	7. Little White Lie

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

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Chapter 7: Little White Lie**

"Edward…do you like me?" It wasn't necessarily nice but Nakeesha had to try to get him to willing meet her sister somehow.

He liked her friendship, he didn't like her tone. It made him recollect the fact that someone with such a sweet tone could be dangerous. He nodded not daring himself to speak, he was afraid his voice would falter.

"I like you too, I will be leaving soon and I don't want you to be lonely…" she paused seeing he was suspicious of her motives, those doubts were well placed. "…I don't want Avalon to be lonely either." He sighed again feeling anxious, Nakeesha would not quit. "You have to…

Her begging and pleading was cut off by the creaking of a door. She made a mental note to fix that problem but she was quite sure it indicated Avalon had come looking for her. She turned to tell Edward to hide but he was already gone. _"Damn he's quick."_

"NAKEESHA?!" Avalon winced, her voice echoed rather loudly in the room.

"You called?" She jumped turning in time to see her half sister laughing, she had gotten the upper hand regardless of her loud shoes.

"Evil." She muttered watching her sister pretend her fingers were horns and chuckle demonically. "Who were you talking too?"

She dropped her hands surprised her sister had heard her talking; it meant she had been listening outside for a few minutes. "Myself." She offered aware of a form ducking in the shadows of books, hearing Edward's nervous shift of scissors again. "Dinner and sundaes?" she hoped she distracted Avalon enough.

"Yeah, let's go."

It worked, Edward and Avalon had yet to meet, he was safe until she could somehow get him to freely meet her. Even if her images weren't the most pleasant, she knew that somehow they would eventually get along. _"I hope they can."_ She was also sure both were socially afraid of other people, it would be like introducing two mimes to each other, they would never get a word in edge wise.

Edward silently climb down the stairs to watch the sisters, he was growing a bit braver with Nakeesha keeping him hidden. The little white lies he could see were getting to the girl though, somehow he would have to get over his fear and speak with Avalon. He had learned some things from Nakeesha, it included why she appeared so sad all the time.

She had explained that Avalon blamed herself for her father's death, he understood that too well. It had been a long time before he realized he wasn't responsible for the inventors' death, his father had been sick for a long time and hadn't had enough time left to complete him.

"I don't want to go home." He listened to the sour tone in Nakeesha's voice stifling his own laughter, Avalon giggled at her disgruntled sister, he liked her laugh.

"You have to…unfortunately she called and indicated I have you waiting at the house by noon tomorrow. Your bus leaves at six in the morning." Edward frowned; he would have to get over his fear soon.

Nakeesha nearly panicked, she had only mere hours to get Edward to reveal himself. This had turned into a nightmare for her. She didn't want either her sister or friend to be lonesome; it wasn't fair to either of them in her opinion.

"I still don't wanna." She remarked resentfully.

"I don't want you to either, but I have no choice. You're sixteen and until you hit the eighteen…you're stuck." She giggled when Nakeesha tackled her to the floor making an effort to tickle her half sister.

It worked; Edward watched a smile on his scarred lips. He like to see them happy, it reminded him of better times in his life. _"I need to meet Avalon."_ The idea made him withdraw deeper in the shadows, he was petrified of her reaction of what would happen when he did.

He listened to the girls for a bit and then felt his heart nearly choke him. "Avalon?" her sister met her gaze. "What would you do if I introduced you to a friend I met here?"

"You're friends are always welcome." Avalon smiled warmly at her sister, not getting the full picture yet.

"I mean…if this friend was really, really, really sweet, nice, kind, gentle, but different somehow. A scary somehow, you wouldn't freak on me would you?" She regarded Nakeesha carefully, her sister looked like she was about to puke, it wasn't often she was afraid of her.

"Different scary how?" she was suspicious, her sister had been acting strange the last day or so and it concerned her a bit.

Nakeesha knew she would have to try to get Avalon and Edward together, she just hoped her sister didn't shriek her head off. "His hands are…unique." She didn't want to say he carried blades for hands, that would freak her out.

"Unique?" she was no longer suspicious as she was curious.

"Yeah." Nakeesha smiled an endearing pleading smile; Avalon was now truly inquisitive about her friend. "He's amazing, fun and such a sweetie. He was hurt badly though and feels different because of his unique-ness. It makes him special though, beautiful." Edward felt his face flush, but was unsure whether to run or remain.

"Beautiful?" Kim's words come back to mind, Avalon remembered her begging her to just remember that things weren't what they seemed; beauty was something that she had to see before fearing something. "Alright, I'm listening."

Nakeesha was surprised her sister accepted this so easily, it wasn't often she was this easy going and it intrigued her. "I…I need to talk to my friend first." She managed seeing Avalon nod in agreement.

The hard part was how was she going to get to the attic without Avalon being suspicious? Walking out of the room she froze, he had ventured down and was there beside the stairs. He looked scared stiff, he didn't seem to feel betrayed but she could see the true panic.

She turned seeing Avalon had distracted herself with a book, quickly Nakeesha motioned Edward to stay put and dodged to the door slamming it and pretending she left. As quietly as remotely possible she motioned her scissor handed friend up the stairs and both of them tiptoed off to the attic.

Once she was sure it was safe she met Edward's dark eyes, they were wide so much so she thought they would pop out any minute. She tried to come up with a way to sooth him and winced, this was not going to be easy. Tilting her head to the side she listened to his scissors he was so petrified she was sure that she couldn't get him back down those stairs if she tried.

"Edward?" her soft whisper made him jump, hands lifting to protect himself. "Easy!" she stated dodging back from him; she knew his reflexes by then and was ready for him to panic.

He snapped out of it long enough to lower his hands and try to breath. "W-why did you…" he stopped hands moving in an unconscious gesture of confusion.

She knew his question. "Because, you two can't both hide from each other in this house until I come back. First of all I have _no_ idea when I can come back and eventually you will run out of house to hide in. If I don't try to smooth this over and she finds you on her own…well…you do _not_ want to see my sister spaz out, it is _not pretty_ at all." He was still perplexed, she was using slang and wasn't sure he knew what she meant.

Both heard Avalon moving around downstairs and exchanged looks. He looked like he was giving up and that is exactly what she needed, she had to get her sister and friend together for company sake.

"She would panic, screech, and act like she does when she sees a spider?" She saw that cleared things up, only it seemed to make him more frightened of his meeting with Avalon. "Shoot, it doesn't mean she wouldn't like you…she has never been the calmest of people, she gets stressed out too easily. I _need_ you to remain calm." She breathed softly seeing him considering her words carefully before he too sighed, eyes squinting in defeat.

"I'll try." He managed although he wasn't certain Nakeesha had heard him.

"You're amazing Edward." Nakeesha startled him by maneuvering herself around his scissor hands and squeezed him in a quick hug before taking off down the stairs.

"Scared to death is more like it." He said weakly hoping Avalon didn't turn into some screaming girl at the sight of him.


	8. Farewell to Arms

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N: Been a long while, I apologize but had no computer or any of my files. I've also had no internet until recently, the last week or so and had to edit my chapters and continue with RL chaos. Finally an update for those of you that have waited so long, I appreciate your support._

_(If anyone notes anything odd like a chapter missing or something, please let me know. I think I may of made a goof somehow.)  
_

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Chapter 8: Farewell to Arms**

Nakeesha was having her share of doubts; he had looked like he was being put in front of a firing squad. (Of course her half sisters screams could sound like that if she wanted.) She started to wonder if this was a good idea, Avalon had always been the one to panic in a situation. The only time she had heard Avalon had not panicked was when her father died, she had called 9-1-1 and stayed there talking to him, she only broke when she had been told he died in her arms.

"Monty in heaven I know you're listening…help?" her voice was pathetically weak to her ears, now she was scared.

_SLAM_

Avalon jumped the book hitting the floor with a light 'thud' sound before she saw that Nakeesha was standing there leaning on the front door. Peering around she saw no sign of her friend and wondered briefly if Nakeesha's friend was afraid of her.

"Where's your friend?" Nakeesha sighed pointing up the stairs. "How did…

"I'll explain later, come meet him." Avalon didn't get a chance to question further, slowly she went upstairs and Avalon ran after her.

She didn't like the idea that some friend of Nakeesha's had run off up the stairs without her and left Avalon to follow her half sister to find them. This friend struck her as rude, regardless of her sisters' description of them. _"__**Him**__! He's a guy?"_ she realized they were on the attic stairs and stopped.

"Why is he upstairs in the _attic?_" Nakeesha shrugged knowing if she ignored her long enough that her sister would continue to follow her upstairs.

Muttering to herself Avalon halted upstairs glancing around the gloomy attic. It was huge with a fireplace, nearly empty except for a few things hidden in the shadows. There was a massive broken window, holes that she realized she would have to fix and finally she saw deep in the corner something tall move.

"Edward?" Avalon was aware of that strange familiar sheering sound again, Nakeesha stood there talking trying to coax her friend out.

Avalon found it odd that it took so much effort to get him to come out. She moved to her sisters side self consciously fidgeting and waiting. She thought she would be worried about meeting this friend, but it appeared he was terrified of her.

"I won't hurt…" she stopped Edward moved into the light, her eyes fell to his scissor hands, she didn't blink, didn't speak just stared.

He studied her curiously, her hair flowed in layers down her back, and her green eyes seemed to zero in on his dark eyes. She stopped fidgeting with her black top and her head tilt sideways watching him. She didn't make a sound, it made him worried that she was going to do what Nakeesha had said, spaz.

_THUD_

Edward made a distressed sound and Nakeesha turned, Avalon shocked her, she had fainted right at her feet. "Oops." She sighed kneeling down to see how her sister was; she appeared fair and hadn't hurt herself.

"Is she hurt?" Glancing up at Edward Nakeesha started to tell him what happened and paused. "Did I hurt her somehow?"

"No, she fainted. It happens when we forget to breathe properly." He heard her amused tone, clearly Avalon would be alright. "This is a _first_ for me to witness, I didn't know Avalon _could_ faint." She tugged her sister up into her lap and started to try and wake her. "Don't you go hiding again, she's already seen you Edward." He stopped in his retreat dark eyes landing on amused blue ones.

"But…

"Stay put." She warned firmly shaking her sister and getting a muttered sound. "Avalon wake up!"

Avalon jerked awake sitting up so suddenly Nakeesha ducked back away and stood. She turned her head around like some wild bobble head doll before her gaze found Edward again.

"Who, what…huh?" Avalon managed sounding far from intelligent and hearing her sisters bubbling laughter. "Nakeesha!" her half sister stopped giggling and sighed.

"Chill out woman." She stated seeing Edward watch the exchange curiously.

Nakeesha explained the story to the best of her abilities; Edward attempted to fill in the blanks and Avalon sat there in total silence absorbing the whole thing. Kim's words now made sense, more sense than she dare to contemplate. The older woman had seemed so sad and if what Edward had said was true, she didn't want to think about the age differences between either of them. He was so human and yet magical, he was like Kim stated beautiful.

"_Unfinished."_ She didn't like the use of that word, he was fine just the way he was and yet he didn't feel that way. "Thank you for looking out for me and the house. I appreciate your wonderful creativity Edward." Avalon was so soft spoken Nakeesha often wondered if she ever got angry. "Nakeesha, I know you meant well but…secrets are _bad_." Her sister pretended to be briefly reprimanded before a sly smile broke past her lips.

"Secrets are only bad if they're meant to hurt someone, it was a _little_ white lie." She defended herself, her smile still giving away her mischief.

"Despite your opinion you still _lied_ to me." Edward looked between the two, he felt bad for Nakeesha taking all this blame, he had hidden and didn't want her to reveal him. "I dislike you hiding things from me, even if it is with good intentions." She relented seeing that he was stressing out, his scissors were clacking loudly.

Nakeesha knew she should feel mildly annoyed with the lecture, but Avalon made a clear point. Secrets were not safe between them; they were totally honest with each other because they were all they truly had. Both had crappy home lives and were often there for each other, no matter what the situation was. Both girls turned seeing Edward shy away, starting to back into the shadows of the attic.

Shaking her head he stopped seeing Nakeesha wasn't letting him go hide again, even if she was in trouble. Dark eyes moved back and forth for the longest time in a slightly fearful look before Avalon sighed eyeing her sister critically and then shaking her head.

"You can't hide in the attic forever…um…Edward?" He nodded confirming Avalon was correct. "If you can stand my company without my knowledge, you might as well get used to me in person. Come downstairs with us…or are you…

"He isn't afraid of us, he's afraid of you miss crazy." Avalon gave Nakeesha a warning look before both girls turned seeing Edward was already making his way out of the attic in an effort to help where he could.

"I'll give you miss crazy." Avalon muttered wondering how this new individual in her life was going to turn hers around, often when people got involved her life went wonky.

Her dear half sister was proof to the part of her life getting all strange.


	9. Teenagers

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N:Again a long time, life got crazy and I had to wait to get a new computer. Now I'm still working on finding files and transferring what I have on my other computers. I've come to a temporary halt on this until I can get some more ideas rolling, which means I need to work on ways to clear my head. I do have a few chapters left to post before this goes on a temporary hiatus. Enjoy what I do have.  
_

_(If anyone notes anything odd like a chapter missing or something, please let me know. I think I may of made a goof somehow.)_

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Chapter 9: Teenagers**

The more interesting parts of the day had been watching Nakeesha con her mother into letting her stay one more day. Avalon realized her devilish half sister was far more manipulative than she gave her credit for, that being said she had spent her day watching Edward help where he could and received the amused end of Nakeesha's comments on her reactions to spiders.

Strangely Edward had said little, his interest in her fear something more of pity. She found this relaxing and in turn had let her sister get away with more teasing than usual. On the off chance she had managed a break both sisters went out watching Edward tend to the many sculptures and gardens.

Nakeesha had amused herself by teasing Avalon mercilessly and clinging to her. It wasn't the usual reaction she had with the sixteen year old; it was almost like she was trying to make sure her friends could live with each other until her return.

Avalon had no problem with Edward, she was more or less curious to the story behind the gentle man with little past. He had easily avoided questions from either girl, often finding a way to distract them with one of his garden pieces. He had been lucky that Nakeesha also provided a bit of one thanks to her observations of his nature in the little time they had known one another.

"I still don't want to…" Nakeesha paused aware Edward was interested in the argument she was having with Avalon. "…Think I can get myself emancipated?"

Avalon stopped in a reply, studying those blue eyes she had never seen Nakeesha quite so serious about becoming a legal adult. She feared that the issues her half sister had at home were much worse than she was witnessing, or being told about. She could count on the fact her mother wouldn't have one nice thing to say about Nakeesha, or what was _really_ wrong.

"Why do you say that?" her younger sister halted in her act of sneaking off to watch Edward, recognizing the fact she had stuck her foot in her mouth.

Nakeesha had successfully avoided her issues through the whole trip, while getting to know Edward and seeing how her sister and friend worked around each other, she realized she had let her own issues slip past her guard. She contemplated telling her sister all of it, or only part of the situation bothering her.

"Nakeesha." Avalon had a warning; it meant she would not take any half-truths.

"They're planning to send me to boarding school if I don't _shape_ up." She remarked reluctantly staring longingly in the direction of her quiet friend, Edward didn't pry without her consent.

"Boarding School!" Avalon covered her mouth seeing Edward watch them at her outburst; she could see concern in his expression and watched him walk over to join them. "Why on earth would _mother_ threaten to send you to boarding school of all places, you are not…

"Dad's apparently having an affair, the other siblings are blackmailing him to keep their mouths shut and I opened mine. I don't like the situation…she didn't believe me, now both seem to think its best if I'm gone. I'm sort of getting in trouble at school too." She added reluctantly, she knew very well that if Avalon confronted their mother she would hear about that.

Disregarding her mother's petty husband and her personal feelings she again studied her sister. "What kind of trouble?"

Nakeesha grimaced at her obvious dismissal of their mother and her father's relationships outside marriage. She had undermined her trouble, it wasn't light and she knew very well that Avalon would make a comment about her wanting to be emancipated. She had to stare at her doe-eyed friend; he looked more so concerned of how her sister would react to what she had explained to him. His reaction after she had broken down the consequences had been rather frightened, he couldn't believe just how unintelligent it had been on her part, he had kindly kept himself from lecturing and tried to understand her afterward.

Avalon would not be that nice, she braced for the worst her sister could do and wished she was elsewhere, maybe under a rock. Daring to meet her half sisters gaze she wondered if there was a kind way to put it, came to the conclusion it would be _impossible_.

"You want the list?" Nakeesha attempted in a joking fashion, her sister scowled then. "Right, the first stupid thing I did was sneak alcohol in school. It was vodka, with that part out of the way I attempted to burn down the girls bathroom trying a cigarette, which was actually marijuana…I tried to hotwire moms car, smashed up Bailey's car by trying to show off. I think my brother will still refuse to talk to me; he had it specially detailed with his _blackmail_ money. There are others, mostly petty…um…that was basically the worst of the deal." Avalon didn't speak; her eyes widened further with each of her sisters confessions.

_Worst_ didn't describe her sisters' actions, she was only sixteen and had gotten into twice as much trouble as she should have accomplished. Avalon was livid, where were her parents when this was going on and who the heck was her mother letting Nakeesha hang out with. Friends were one thing to deal with when it came to peer pressure, but her friends sounded like sadists in her opinion.

"Is that _all_ you accomplished?" Avalon barely kept her voice even, she sounded on the verge of full hysterics.

"No, but that's the worst of it." Nakeesha hoped making light of it would spare her the reaction she was seeing, she should have not made light of it though, that just was Avalon's final straw on the situation.

"_You_ honestly think this is _funny_!" Edward withdrew a few steps back, his scissors clacking worriedly. "You want to become a legal adult! Do you think that your actions qualify you to be one! You _would_ be arrested and put away! Nakeesha, what the hell do you think you are doing?" she managed to regain some control, especially after the obvious hurt and irritated look in her sisters expression. _"Calm! Calm down!"_ she hoped she could maintain that word in her mind, her little sister looked about to go off.

"_I_ just wanted to be _noticed_ by them, I don't have a clue why though. Clearly you didn't notice it at all!"

Avalon felt her face fall, she again felt guilty for avoiding her half sister after her fathers death. It appeared that without her around at least with a few phone calls that Nakeesha had gone over the edge. She had become Avalon's image of a teenage delinquent.

"That was a poor way to get the attention…" Avalon paused catching Nakeesha's arm before she run off on her. "…but I'm sorry I didn't try to communicate with you better. I assume that part of this may be my fault, if I guess right, I was all you had to talk with and failed in that when Dad died." She winced remembering her father, but she knew it would be the only way to calm them both down.

Taking part of the blame would help Nakeesha refocus.

"That's not fair." Whispered Nakeesha knowing her sister took some of the pain because she felt guilty even more so now, she hadn't intended to make Avalon feel bad or responsible for that matter.

During the whole situation Edward wisely slid off on his own at very subtle of a distance, watching patiently for the siblings to regain their former humor. He disliked the anger and sadness shared before his eyes, both girls had it hard and were now faced with an obvious dilemma. He wanted to help but had no idea how to do so.

"It wasn't your fault Avalon…a lot of it was just me hoping they banished me here with you. _I_ can honestly say I _hate_ my life with them. The friends I chose are worse than even I should admit to being around, who better to annoy mom and dad?" her humor was barely there, she felt guilty for making Avalon even more miserable with herself.

Avalon contemplated the whole outlook, whether it was hers, the parental figures in Nakeesha's life or her teenage half sister, there was a lot of anguish that no sixteen year old should be burdened with. It wasn't mature the way she went about getting attention but in the long run she knew that the young girl before her would be better off emancipated, she wouldn't be a pawn to toy with anymore.

"I don't know how to understand how this whole thing got out of hand, I don't presume to know what goes on in mom's head or _your_ fathers'…I know that you would as much as I loathe to say it, you would be better off unconstrained by them. They don't qualify as adults anymore than you're acting, but then again I know my mother too well." Nakeesha took a long minute to absorb her sisters' words, within that speech there was something there and even though she knew it she was clueless.

"I don't understand."

"You would make a more responsible adult than your own parents." Avalon offered in translation aware Edward had shown a brief smile and glancing at him keenly, she liked it when he smiled.

This was uncharacteristic of Avalon to take something so serious and turn it into something light; Nakeesha had to pinch herself regardless of how foolish it was to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Her sister with amusement struggled not to laugh, she was aware of their silent friend joining them with an odd mirth in his normally cautious eyes.

"I stumped her." Avalon offered directly to Edward who wasn't accustomed to her being so outspoken with him.

He glanced between them thoughtfully his expression contemplative. "I wasn't quite sure how you would react." He managed even though he was revealing he knew of the situation. "I wasn't quite sure how to take it."

Avalon could see confusion, clearly he had been shut off much worse than either her sister or she had fathomed. His soft spoken unsure manner and awkward actions made it obvious, she found it comforting and endearing. Smiling softly she gently offered her hand in a serene sort of gesture watching his eyes lower to the offer; he did lift his scissor hand but was unsure of how to react to her action.

He studied the pale hand, fingers long and thin almost in an elegant fashion, he was very surprised when her hand very gently grasped his wrist and tugged him along with her. Nakeesha watching the actions between them arched a brow in inquiry at her sister's softened gaze.

"I think it's time we relax, Nakeesha can explain about my milkshake endeavors." Before she got to the kitchen she released Edward's wrist and moved about in a familiar comfortable fashion.

His presence was no longer a concern to her, he had only protected her and her sister, she had no reason to doubt his sincerity. She also had a feeling, rather negative that if he was revealed things in silent suburbia wouldn't be so indulgent any longer. She didn't like nosy neighbors and especially despised people that couldn't see the true gentle man within those soft dark eyes.


	10. No More Drama

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_(If anyone notes anything odd like a chapter missing or something, please let me know. I think I may of made a goof somehow.)_

* * *

**Chapter 10: No More Drama**

During her work Avalon was well aware of her sister taking off with Edward somewhere in the house, she had a feeling her sister was much more devious than she foreseen. It brought about concerns that she didn't dare let into her mind, she had been down that road and wasn't about to try it again.

She did admit though that it was pleasant to have a friend, she rarely had that privilege.

Nakeesha could see Edward was deep in reflection; his dark eyes had been often staring at their interactions. His focus granted was more on her sister than herself, but she didn't actually dislike that idea, she adored her friend and her sister. If something did happen between them she would see it as divine intervention, or maybe just hope it was.

Unsure of how to ask without confusing her he met those inquiring blue eyes, inside them was a look he wasn't quite sure about and somehow it had little interest to him. He was more intent on what he felt, he was mostly anxious of Nakeesha's reaction.

"Why did your sister…" he saw Nakeesha watch him, her gaze intense and oddly enough for him unnerving. "…accept me?" it was all he could come up with, it wasn't like he could ask why she 'touched' him without being afraid.

He remembered some fond memories of touch and not so happy times; he did know that it was a sort of understanding of his fears though. Avalon's green eyes had seemed to imply she knew his fears; it frightened him much like it captivated him.

Now she had a decision to make, how to explain her sister was far too accepting on some occasions but he was not of the same issue, she actually did like Edward. Trying to find the words she reflected for a long enough amount of time to hear his scissor hands click nervously.

Finally she met those apprehensive dark eyes; she could see he felt he had read into the gesture too far. "Avalon has always been kind, accepting of anyone who comes within contact of her. It is part of her ideals of avoiding confrontation, of keeping peace whether she likes the issue or not, _but_…" she let the sharpness of the word linger before continuing, she had seen the attempt to withdraw. "…you aren't like that to her, she truly likes you. You and she are much alike, if I didn't speak for all of us it would be very silent around here." She smiled seeing him toss around her words before meeting her gaze.

"Does that mean I'm not a creature to your sister?" clearly Nakeesha hadn't explained herself as well as she had hoped. "A monster?"

If she could find the heart to she would have slapped Edward, she had no idea why he thought so harshly of himself. Glancing up she saw Avalon staring at them, her eyes hard obviously hearing the last part of the conversation. It did _not_ take Nakeesha long to figure out her sister wasn't pleased, she looked strangely angry.

An unpleasant sort of look crossed her face, Nakeesha only seen that look reserved for their moth and that was saying a lot. Slowly Avalon set the tray of milkshakes onto the coffee table of the main hall room she had adopted as her temporary bedroom. Wise to her sisters' obvious annoyance she stepped a bit to the side and saw Edward slowly turn; he looked suddenly terrified of Avalon.

He was taller than her by at least a foot, but that didn't stop Avalon from looking fearsome in a situation like the one at present. Regarding his alarmed expression she took a deep breath and calmed just slightly.

"I _don't_ ever want to hear you reference to yourself like that again Edward. I don't know what happened to you to cause such evil concepts of yourself, but I do know that I _don't_ like them." His gaze lowered like a child being scolded, she had been a bit harsher than she intended but she hated how little he thought of himself.

She didn't realize she thought herself much the same, only Nakeesha seemed to get the truth behind the lecture and sighed hoping she would figure out a way to stop blaming herself eventually.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, you just have to understand that you are special…a far more gentle person than any I have met. You are a good person and we both care for your friendship." She smiled seeing Nakeesha smirk almost smugly, she had won and gotten her two closest friends together in a fashion. "_You_ don't get cocky." She warned her finger inches from her younger siblings' nose. "You're still in my care and very lucky I don't ground you for your unreasonable behavior, even if it has its own issues behind it. I know Monty and I taught you better."

Nakeesha made a face; she disliked how often her sister could go from cool friend to parental in seconds. Glancing back and forth Edward finally allowed a brief laugh; it was so soft both girls had to strain to make sure they hadn't imagined it, but it was there and seemed content.

"I _don't_ want to go home." Nakeesha didn't feel at all in a pleasant mood, even after a wonderful time with her sister and friend.

Her choice of depressing songs and moody music didn't help her disposition, nor did it appease Avalon's darkening frame of mind. She knew Nakeesha would have to go home, whether she got away with being legal adult or not, she also was sure she would return eventually. Permanence was still a disputed option; she didn't foresee her mother or step-father granting that kind of dignity.

Edward sensing the gloom settling in the atmosphere wondered what he could do to help the situation. He couldn't stop Nakeesha from leaving, he couldn't convince Avalon to keep her, he had understood enough to know neither was an option. He still didn't like the fact both of them were miserable. He had missed friendship, now he had to feel the consequences of that all over again, granted not as badly but it still did hurt.

The next morning warily Edward made his way down the stairs, he could hear Avalon and Nakeesha both arguing again. It was about her leaving, she was trying to talk her sister into letting her stay or something along those lines and he briefly wondered what would happen.

"I would _love_ to keep you Nakeesha; you know very well that is illegal without parental consent." Avalon was exasperated it felt like she argued more when it was time for her half sister to leave than when she wouldn't do something she asked.

"Not if I make myself an adult."

"How do you purpose to get your parents to sign those documents?"

Nakeesha fierce look showed her discomfort, her sister was too hard to argue with, she always was very good at reasoning and this wasn't any different. She considered a new approach, begging.

"Please? If you talk with mom I'm sure she will let me stay longer." Both knew that was a stretch, their mother _wouldn't_ allow Nakeesha to stay longer than it suited her, especially if she knew that her little angel wanted to _live_ with Avalon.

"We both know that she won't." Avalon offered her sister a hug, which she accepted even after the argument wasn't finished. "I would like you to live with me, we know it isn't realistic…" she met those blue eyes that won her sixteen years ago and smiled. "…but if you promise to straighten up, I will try and convince her to let you spend summer with me, maybe even your spring holiday." She internally winced, her mother would never be that kind but she had to try for her sisters well being.

Slipping into the room unnoticed he attempted to avoid interrupting both women and tried to go about his work. He halted at the doorway aware of eyes on him and slowly turned, both girls offered him warm smiles.

He felt suddenly uncomfortable wondering what they were thinking. _"Maybe I intruded?"_ he went to inquire before watching a strangely mischievous look cross Nakeesha's face, he wasn't sure if it was pleasant or not.

"Edward, take care of my sister while I'm home?" feeling a sort of relief wash over him he nodded in response. "Thanks." She whispered the look remaining, but she didn't make any other comments.

"I don't need protecting." Avalon teased seeing her sister thought otherwise, her younger half knew more than even she was willing to admit.

"I'm going to inspect the grounds." Edward whispered softly before exiting and leaving both women curiously staring after him.


	11. Breaking Away

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_(If anyone notes anything odd like a chapter missing or something, please let me know. I think I may of made a goof somehow.)_

* * *

**Chapter 11: Breaking Away**

Unsure of what troubled Avalon over Edward's strangely docile state, Nakeesha met her sisters' curious look. Her eyes had paled in comparison to the usual amusement she shared with the younger girl. It meant she lost her sisters concentration and it was focused on their new friend.

"Avalon, what are you thinking?"

Glancing down she tried to smile but failed. "About Edward's story…he's far too troubled and sad." She nodded in agreement with her. "I considered talking to a woman I met in the suburbs below, but I fear that she might not be able to handle it. She's probably in her late seventies, early eighties."

"You mean you think she knew Edward when he was a kid?"

Avalon balked slightly before meeting Nakeesha's eyes, she wasn't sure how to share her thoughts on Edward's true existence, or his actual age. She had the oddest feeling that Kim Smith knew more than she explained.

"Perhaps." It wasn't an answer and she didn't want to share her thoughts, she wasn't the only one that could overact on occasion.

"You're hiding something." Nakeesha's displeasure was shown in her expression, Avalon just smiled softly and shrugged.

"I'm only hiding because I need to be _certain_."

Nakeesha knew better than to argue with her sister in these moods, she would get a question with a question for hours and no straight answers. She did have something to look forward too though, if Avalon could convince her mother to let her stay the summer at the very least she would be happy. Spring break would just be a plus.

She successfully got her sister and friend to meet; now all she had to do was glumly look forward to going home and not seeing them for several weeks. She decided to go see what Edward was doing in the gardens; she needed to take her mind off her depressed mood.

In the back of the house the gardens were much larger; they stretched for almost what seemed miles. Eyeing the colorful assortment of bushes, flowers and taking note to the forest in the distance, Nakeesha had to pause. _"Where do I __**start?**_" she wondered trying to make a decision on where to begin. She listened hoping, even praying she heard anything of Edward and luckily with her intense study she heard the familiar sheering sounds off to her left.

Navigating past rows of different shaped bushes, including some that looked like scenes from a fantasy garden, she found him pruning a tall fountain like bush. It even appeared to be spouting water, until she realized he had trimmed the moss and ivy _around_ an actual fountain. A smile lit up her expression, seeing he was lost in concentration and appeared to have a few guests which she had frightened off.

Aware of the disappearance of wild life Edward paused and turned. Nakeesha was admiring his work, this particular aspect of the sisters made him feel very good about what he did and made him feel special at the same time. He moved a finger in her direction that made a soft clicking sound among his others, she complied walking to his side and peered at the fountain with interest.

Many questions had been troubling Edward that day, mostly he felt this profound need to protect both of his new friends. He could see she was in pain, secretly hiding more from Avalon than she had even shared with him. Nakeesha was a private person; her secrets were so deep they fumbled over one another to survive. She had grown to survive life instead of live it.

Suddenly aware of dark eyes staring at her she turned, within those eyes she could see the concern, the need to protect and understood much to her discomfort, Edward could see more into a person. He could see into her and she didn't like it much, not at all.

"Yes?"

She had just opened up the conversation for questions she could have avoided, she mentally cringed waiting. He just studied for a brief moment and turned back to his work, he didn't care to make her uncomfortable and chase away the first human contact he had in years. He was still very troubled by how well she hid things, how easily Avalon didn't see how much pain she was in.

He didn't realize that because he had such an intimate understanding of pain that he was almost hyper aware of theirs, he also didn't pay attention to the fact that he wasn't the only one that could see things. Nakeesha could tell he liked their company, she also was intensely aware of his need to protect her sister.

She knew assumptions were dangerous so kept her thoughts to herself, she just hoped that maybe the two people she liked most could learn to see past their own issues and move on with life.

"Ask." Edward stopped pruning the tall twisting tree nearest the fountain and glanced over at her inquisitively.

"I don't understand." He had an idea but he didn't wish to press matters, he didn't want anyone upset with him.

"You obviously have questions to ask me, best do it before Avalon comes to get me and take me to the bus station." It hadn't been meant as a jab, but his slight wince made her realize her tone was on the bitter side.

"I just have one, I don't want to press the others." She turned lifting a brow wondering why he sounded amused, it wasn't what she expected.

"What?"

"Why are you so defensive when someone understands you aren't what you seem?" her gaze lowered suspiciously before she dared to speak.

"I have to be; otherwise I wouldn't be able to deal with my life at home. I may be being childish about recent situations, but it isn't like listening to my parents and siblings bicker all the time is fun. Avalon doesn't know the half of it, I don't _plan_ on telling her either…" she saw he was about to say more and sighed. "…she doesn't need any more blame than she already puts herself through." He silenced, Edward understood now why Nakeesha kept her secrets.

She protected her sister, this sixteen year old may have been physically that age but deep within herself she was much older and wiser.

"Who protects you?" he managed uncertain of why he asked the question.

"I protect myself." Nakeesha found she didn't want Edward's company any more, she was concerned that the quiet insightful man would eventually find out something she didn't want him too.

He was humble but was far too aware of her and it made her uncomfortable for the first time since she met him. Edward may have very well understood her much more than she wanted.


	12. I Know Him So Well

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_(If anyone notes anything odd like a chapter missing or something, please let me know. I think I may of made a goof somehow.)_

* * *

**Chapter 12: I Know Him So Well**

Farewells weren't quite as difficult this time around as he remembered them. Avalon would be back eventually and he knew that someday Nakeesha would appear again, she demanded him to write to her. Avalon had solved his concerns with the ability to do so, volunteering to be his writer while he dictated things to her. In that case he couldn't very well ask her all the questions he had piled up, he was sure that Nakeesha hid more than even he suspected.

Avalon knew she would regret this, after seeing her sister off she pulled out her cell phone dialing the number she often grew to despise. "Mother?"

"Hello darling, I hope your sister wasn't too much of a problem. Little troublemaker lately." Rolling her eyes she tried to avoid yelling, it wouldn't do her any good if she ticked off their mother.

"She was well behaved mother. I wanted to question you about perhaps keeping her out of trouble this summer, maybe spring break also? I thought…

"Heavens dear, are you daft? Are you actually planning to have her come stay with you _that long_?" Avalon really disliked being cut off, especially after hearing the surprise and resentment in her mother's voice.

"Yes." She realized her sister hid more trouble from her even after explaining a share of it. "Is it that hard to believe I love my half sister that much?" wincing she knew that wasn't the best way of winning over her mother.

"Sometimes, I mean you don't care for your father…

"Step-father." She corrected trying to maintain her temper.

"I conclude my case." Her mother's smug tone further edged her on; she was barely containing her fit. "Did she tell you half the trouble she's caused us, her family?"

"Yes, that was why I hoped that she could stay. Possibly I can help her stay out of trouble; give you and Reggie some time together. Bailey's going to college, I'm guessing Gibson will be going on vacation with his cousins again?" she could hear the contemplative silence in the background, she then heard her mother quietly discussing something with a male voice.

"That would be lovely of you dear, so unselfish like you've been recently. We would appreciate it. Spring break we can plan that trip to Morocco." She moved the phone from her ear staring into the busy bus station; it was too late to tell Nakeesha the great news.

"Great." She said with little to no enthusiasm, it was far too obvious that her mother and husband were selfish. "Just tell her to call me when she's in, I want to arrange things with her and set up some conditions." She heard laughter in the background, it sounded like Reggie congratulating her mothers great idea.

It would figure her mother would take the credit. "Oh, before I forget…has she spoken with you over this silly emancipation idea of hers. Of all the nerve with all that we do for her, _she's_ so over dramatic. Do you suspect she still wants to do such a silly thing?" Avalon nearly dropped the phone; again her sister had hid this detail from her.

"I don't know Mother. She wasn't clear."

"Naturally she would talk with _you_." A brief smile crossed her lips, she felt glad that her sister would rather confide in her instead of their mother, even if it wasn't appropriate. "Reggie and I've been talking, setting down some conditions. The way she's been recently we may just put her into a boarding school, so keep the summer fun for her." Before she could protest her mother's words, she heard the phone call end with a quick inaudible goodbye of sorts.

"_Boarding school!"_ Furiously she gripped her steering wheel, her knuckles white. She had tossed her phone violently to the seat beside her and proceeded to leave the station. Those two that claimed they were adults were far too irresponsible for their own benefits. She was so angry that she nearly missed her turn.

Once she had calmed herself down she had focused on the timid and gentle man at the mansion. She had a theory and wondered if Kim might be tending her garden again that afternoon, she hesitated before pulling up to the house and watched. To her relief the older woman come out of the house followed by two little boys, she waved to Avalon and started across the lawn.

For a minute Avalon panicked, how could she ask something that even she thought sounded strange? Kim was close enough that she didn't dare consider leaving, it would be rude and she didn't want to cut off her only source of possible information on Edward.

"Hello again Avalon, how are you today?" Kim's eyes were dark and warm; she relaxed herself and glanced up at the mansion briefly.

Hesitating she spoke softly. "Do you have a moment? I have a few _questions_ about the mansion." She wondered if her test would be successful, understanding seemed to click across the older wrinkled face and Kim nodded.

"Yes, I have time. Come with me." Avalon reluctantly got out of her car, she had hoped it would be simple but had a feeling nothing of this situation was simple.

Inside the small house she didn't allow her eyes to roam far, she was led into a living room off to the right. It had a tan couch covered with pillows, two chairs and a small fireplace off to the center of it. Her eyes ticked across the pictures of children of varying ages and she smiled, Kim appeared to have a large family. Her attention turned to the rich coffee brown walls which also had decorations of wild flowers and family portraits.

Kim come into the living room after leaving her momentarily with two glasses of ice tea. Her dark gaze never left Avalon's, she knew part of it and Avalon saw that. Slowly she accepted the drink and thanked her, the room was tense and soon Kim was the one to break the silence.

"What questions would you like to ask Avalon?" her voice was resigned, something that Avalon hadn't expected.

"Edward, why is he so afraid of the world, what happened to hurt him so?" Kim winced, that was the last thing she wanted to hear, the word 'hurt' made her heart ache for her once dearest friend and love.

"Do you have time for a long story?" Avalon nodded, Edward would be tending to his normal activities and then she would try to find a way to work on other rooms in her home.

Regret was clear in Kim's eyes as she spun the sad tale of Edward Scissorhands, how her mother had brought him into an accepting suburbia and how he had won over everyone. It had gone wrong once she realized she loved him, her possessive boyfriend had created trouble for him. She admitted to her part in the mess but Edward had forgiven her, she didn't know how much he cared until he grew hurt one day, she still didn't know the reason but events went downhill from then on. Her brother had been alright but it had turned the town into a pack of rabid animals, chasing him like they did in old fashioned horror movies.

Kim continued to tell how she had fled to Edward, how Jim had harmed her and how Edward had saved her. The accidental death of Jim and how she had hidden his existence for years, how she still protects him to this day. She went into how she feared Avalon misunderstanding the unique man; how she feared for his gentle soul and the pain she had caused him.

At the end of the story Avalon mulled over all this information, slowly processing it to the best of her understanding. She had been right, the obvious conclusion behind this was Edward was decades older than her and yet she didn't know how. He was different but not a monster, he was so human sometimes it could hurt to stare into those forever forgiving dark eyes of his.

"Do you know how he came to be?" Kim shook her head; all she could tell her was Edward was made by an inventor. That was the only detail she had ever learned. "I don't know how to describe him…he is so kind, serene is a good word. He brought my sister out of her shell; she told me things she normally hides. He protects us, protected me before I even knew that he was there. He's a silent guardian angel."

Kim studied Avalon; she could see pain within her too. She was soft spoken, not what she appeared when she first met her. She was much wiser for her age, a watcher that sorted things over time and avoided conflict. She had to wonder how this girl could be so strong, yet so frail at the same time.

"He's a dark angel…a beautiful and wonderful sort of fallen angel. I know little about him, but I do know that there are secrets in that world of his that even I never found." She jumped when Avalon jerked, her eyes oddly bright and curious.

"Is there a secret to help him, make him feel like he belongs?"

"You mean give him hands?" Kim felt agitated; everyone had wanted to change him, the beautiful man she had grown to love as he was.

"No, a way that he can find someone…again." Avalon had no intention of letting the older woman get carried away with some romantic notion about her. "…I mean…from my point living forever can hurt more, he has to watch those that he cares about shrivel and die. It isn't fair to him, he's been kind to my half sister and me, I want to thank him. Give him what he needs in turn for protecting us." Kim didn't fully understand, but after a moment she caught on.

"He's fine the way he is, you just want him to be truly happy?" Avalon nodded, now Kim was catching on. "Maybe it is like a fairy tale…" raising a brow Avalon waited for her to finish. "…maybe Edward just needs to find his true love." She noted the girl cringe slightly; clearly Kim had misinterpreted her meaning.

"Possibly. I will have to investigate while I work on the house." Avalon stood to leave. "Thank you for your help Kim, I appreciated it." She halted again before turning to the elderly woman. "Why didn't you go back?"

"Because it hurt him." She nodded understandingly before leaving.


	13. Your Remind Me

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_(If anyone notes anything odd like a chapter missing or something, please let me know. I think I may of made a goof somehow.)_

_A/N: These are the last three chapters I have ready. I haven't found the others so I may have to do some rewriting and it will probably take a bit. In the meantime be on the lookout for my newest one that I started if you like POTC. I hope you enjoy the rest and thanks for hanging in there.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 13: You Remind Me**

All the way home she had reflected upon what she learned, how little she knew of Edward and the story of his love for Kim Boggs, now Smith. She couldn't help but wonder what type of man could create someone so magical, how he had elegantly carved such a kind personality as Edward and then she realized a critical piece of the puzzle.

"Dad." Her voice cracked at the word but she knew he was part of the answer. "He had been friends with the man that owned the mansion, the _inventor_." Parking the car she fished around her car, finding the letter he had left her among the folder of things from the lawyers' office.

It hadn't told her much, just a long story of how much he would always love her and of his friend that left the house to him. She found nothing on the inventor like she had hoped, but it gave her a place to start. She reasoned that if her father had been friends with the inventor, he may have been around during the creation of Edward, at least she hoped so.

She started up to the massive doors and paused; he stood there with a soft sort of smile and waved his scissor hand in warm greeting. "Welcome back." She couldn't help but return the smile. "How did everything go with Nakeesha?"

"I convinced mother to let her come for spring break and summer. I haven't been able to accomplish getting her out of boarding school as of _yet_. I doubt emancipation is probable at this juncture in time." She noted the obvious troubled expression he had and sighed. "Is there something wrong Edward?"

Those dark eyes met hers sending a sort of warmth through her, they were so kind and warm she didn't want to look away. "I'm concerned…" he seemed to struggle with words. "…I don't want you to be unhappy." He managed with what she could see was great effort.

"I'm not unhappy, I'm displeased with my mother." She clarified seeing his questions were still lingering. "Nakeesha may be discontented though; my mother doesn't understand how much she actually can hurt someone. My _step-father_ is not better." She nearly spat the words; her voice was so loathing it made him raise a brow in puzzlement.

"This is all confusing." He managed humbly, she smiled softly at his naivety and tried to figure out how to ease his obvious mystification and help make him feel better.

"I am not positive on how to explain it better, just consider this man a bad person. He yells a lot, is pushy, tried to control everything and my mother pretends he doesn't do these things. She treats him like a prince." She felt her blood run cold, a sudden hard look showed on his face, one of such disgust and anger she felt oddly threatened.

Realization hit her at once, she made her step-father sound like Kim's boyfriend, she made him sound like how he truly was. He was not a pleasant man, maybe a little crooked but the hatred that she saw reflected her own, it unnerved her.

"I knew of someone like that once." He managed with a sickening feeling; he remembered this dark feeling and the distaste and disaster that followed such emotions. "I need to tend the gardens." His voice returned to a soft tone, but Avalon's clear surprise made him uncomfortable.

She watched Edward pass her, eyes lowered in clear shame and thought. She felt several emotions at once and one of them wasn't fear so much as it was worry. She worried about how much pain she had just set upon him by reminding him of his past, she felt absolutely wretched and made her way into the house.

The silence was so loud to her that she had to find the music player; she made her way up the stairs and went tow work in the bathroom. She spent her day scrubbing the walls until everything nearly shone with a very near new like quality. She had spent so much time in that one room she was astonished at how thoroughly she had cleaned it. She was neat but not to the point where it looked like the room had been remodeled, feeling unnerved she still felt disgusted with herself.

Unknowingly she had harmed the kind soul of Edward and all he had done was protect her. Angrily she through the scrubbing brush into the wall and slid down the side of the tub, tears stung her eyes and sobs choked her throat. She couldn't shake the guilt, even though it was more so her past remorse slowly creeping into her thoughts.

Edward had pruned the garden to his liking, spending extra time on the main garden at the front. He had trimmed the hand to look lusher and full, keeping the extra leaves from ruining his sculpture, tilting his head he realized it had been an oddly silent day. He had heard little of Avalon's usual work when she cleaned the house, she hadn't checked on him once and he felt a strange feeling creeping up his spine.

He could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up, this was not behavior he had become accustomed too. Avalon was never far off, even before Nakeesha had visited the woman had been impeccable at making plenty of noise, most of it was common due to eight legged arachnids.

"_She's fine, I'm sure of it."_ Yet he doubted his own reassurances, he found himself moving swiftly to the house and cautiously entering the main hall of the room. He heard nothing, focusing on the entry way it was a ghost of its former cobwebbed prison. There was not a drop of dust in sight, the checkered floors were waxed to a shine and the stairs he was so familiar with barely creaked at all anymore.

Avalon was a wonderful worker and took much better care of his home than he could; he appreciated all her hard work and skills. He was very sure his father would have approved of such a kind woman. He made his way through the bottom half of the house, taking extra care to call down into the basement and listening for any signs of life.

He went back to the stairs and started up them, he then began to hear the faintest trace of sound. He recognized it as music and followed the noise to the bathroom, his dark eyes roamed over the open doorway knowing it was safe if it was open and there she was leaning against the tub.

Avalon was wrapped around her knees and weeping, her shaking sobs made his protective instincts kick in immediately. He hesitantly walked into the room and knelt as carefully as he could near Avalon, a gentle scissor finger come to rest near her hair and brush it aside.

Caught unaware she lifted her eyes and made a soft sound of alarm. Red rimmed eyes met dark eyes and she relaxed blushing furiously at being found in such a state. He didn't care about her flush face or the obvious tears, he was worried about her well being and why she was so saddened.

"Why are you crying?" his soft voice soothed her frazzled nerves, she couldn't bear to lie to this kind soul but didn't know if it was wise to explain what she had learned.

The faintest turn of her lips reassured him just a bit. "I'm upset with myself."

"Why?"

"Because I made you discontent." Avalon wanted this conversation to end.

"I don't like it when someone makes you feel sad, that doesn't mean you did anything to hurt me." He whispered softly seeing her eyes lower and noting fresh tears roll down her pale cheeks. "Avalon, is there something else?"

"_Oh no."_ she doubtfully met his gaze wondering how much she dared to say. His dark eyes seemed to see through her, aware of his scissor finger moving her hair back across her shoulders she sighed. Nodding she could see his concern and sympathy, she wondered if it would be replaced by hurt.

"I saw someone today; she knew about you…" she decided to keep her gaze locked on her knees hoping to keep her nerves in check. "…she told me what happened, about the vultures down in suburbia, about how you ended up so hurt and why you remained here." Silence greeted her ears, she could still hear him breathing but that was all she heard. "You took care of me, Nakeesha and I wanted to help you…I'm sorry if I hurt you." She heard the briefest sound of his scissors shift, yet he still remained knelt before her.


	14. One For Sorrow

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_(If anyone notes anything odd like a chapter missing or something, please let me know. I think I may of made a goof somehow.)_

* * *

**Chapter 14: One for Sorrow**

"Someone that knew about me?" he hadn't thought about her until recently, even now he wasn't sure if he could say her name.

It had been so long, he had been sure that she was gone and had left that place. Forgotten about him and lived a life he couldn't have given her. He didn't want to know if she had been happy, he liked living in an unknown bliss. He had even lost track of time until recently, sadly Avalon had calendars and he could do the math about the years it had truly been.

"Yes." She barely breathed finally allowing herself to look into those clearly thoughtful eyes.

"Kim." He stated softly avoiding the question, he knew of no other person that could know such a dark secret.

Regretfully Avalon nodded not daring to say a word. She felt so miserable with herself she didn't want to speak. She had broken his heart without even trying to do so; she had been as evil and hopeless for him as she had with her own father.

"I'm _sorry."_ Brokenheartedly she again felt tears fall down her cheeks and lowered her eyes in shame.

He had been unsure of things since this news, her fresh tears bringing him out of his thoughts and back to present. Even though she had assumed he would be livid with her, he wasn't. He felt sad for her, a great deal of pity and caring for her come from somewhere within him. He didn't feel like he did with Kim all those years ago, but he felt that he should protect her, he cared for her in a sense he was uncertain of at present.

"Don't be." He worriedly lifted his scissor hand gently to her shoulder, scared to death he would clumsily harm her in some way because of her off the shoulder top, luckily he had judge the pressure enough to avoid such a thing.

"Why not." Avalon was aware of a cool metal feeling on her arm and lifted her head, his hand was gentle against her and not a scratch in sight could be seen. "I pained you…I'm an evil person." She stated bitterly.

"No _you_ are not." He managed oddly stern for his delicate voice. "You just are hurt by the fact that you can't cure the world's pains, you are not holding the world on your shoulders. Avalon you are only human, you can't solve everything." She managed to control herself enough to stare into his dark eyes.

"She told you."

He couldn't decipher her tone; he did hope that it wasn't angry. He didn't want to hurt her feelings or upset her more than she already was. Trying to interpret her tone, he wasn't sure if he should say 'yes' or 'no'.

"Very little." He tried the lesser of two evils; he only understood partly what Nakeesha had told him.

"My father died of heart failure, all my CPR and training I had been taught had been futile to him. I failed my father and he died in my arms." She barely managed to keep her voice steady. "The nice ambulance people looked at me, the woman was graying and very kind to me…she said 'I am so sorry dear, he's gone. Montgomery Flannery passed away.' She hadn't realized he was my father at that moment, when she did she was kind enough to hold me until I got some sort of control again." She hadn't noticed Edward's sudden surprise or how quickly he concealed it.

"_Montgomery Flannery?"_ he knew the name, surprisingly considering the fact he had always heard him addressed as 'Monty.' This news started to assist Edward in puzzling why this girl had struck him as needing protection; he had liked his father's friend and often was pleased when he would visit. Monty had been the only friend of his fathers that he had the privilege to know.

"Edward?" she met those dark eyes, something in there making her feel compelled to ask her question. "Did you ever meet my father?" she tried to gauge his reaction to her inquiry, he seemed hesitant. "I ask because he was familiar with the inventor that lived here. That's how I came to be here, dad was given the mansion in some papers, and I got the information after he passed. I was assuming that the inventor may have been…

"Yes." He finally answered even though he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Your father knew mine." She stated softly, she knew then she could add a few more decades to the boy before her, the man trapped forever in an innocent and pained state.

"Monty was the only one of father's friends that visited."

"The only one that didn't treat your father wrongly." Avalon answered knowingly to her unanswered question, her father had befriended the inventor because he had seen how unique the man was and what a wonderful creator he was.

"Where does this lead us?" Edward was now worried she would leave; disappear like all those in his past had done. _"I don't want to be alone again."_ He knew that he would most likely outlive Avalon, but he wanted company while he could have it, he liked her company and he liked Nakeesha too.

"It leads us to try and figure out more about both our fathers. At the moment since I hope you are not upset with me prying into your past, I think I should try and make something to eat. I cleaned this bathroom until it looked like it had been remodeled and it's sort of…creeping me out." She made a face, it wasn't often she felt she overdid something but this time she was very _aware_ she had.

She easily did a quick fruit salad dish for lunch, sharing in conversation with Edward about how angry she was with her mother and her issues regarding her sister. She kept the previous day's incident out of the exchange, but it wasn't out of mind.

He hadn't been uncomfortable but was starting to realize he had to ask Avalon something, something very important to him whether it would wound him or not. She sensed the change in their chit-chat, wincing briefly when she glanced in those dark eyes. She _knew_ what was coming and almost decided on a way to avoid it; unfortunately she couldn't find it in her heart to deny him a bit of peace.

"I know you don't wish to, but could you tell me how Kim is?" the pleading in his voice set her teeth on edge and made her heart seem to wilt in deeper gloom than she already felt.

Her heart currently felt to her like grated cheese, falling into pieces within her stomach. It pained her to answer him, she had known how much Kim and he loved one another, the older woman couldn't hide it in her words or her eyes. Kim had lived, loved, but no one could take that one place in her heart, the one only a scissor handed man could ever have.

"She's well." She managed softly knowing he wanted something a little more specific than that. "I _don't_ want to _hurt_ you." She breathed daring to meet his dark eyes again and finding her resolve withering.

"You won't." he softly smiled even though she knew it was the best he could say, she knew better as well as he.

"She's happy, as content as she can be…considering. She's got lots of family, grandchildren, great grandchildren…I don't know how extensive her family is. I know she's very fond of them and shares her story of you with them. She spins your tale like a magical fairytale; the children in her family love it. They love you." She said the last bit very softly. "She lets your story live on for generations, her family shares it with their own and their friends. You've become a wonderful magical legend." She can see the warmth in his eyes; she sees the pain the most.

The pain is the worst, because legends live forever. He can live forever and they can't.

"You're magical…" worriedly she lifted her hand seeing him start, luckily since being around them his instinct to lift his hands had waned a bit. "…don't let anyone tell you different and don't you think differently about yourself either." Her fingers ghosted against his cheek, finding his skin soft and feeling a brief bump where a scar remained. "I'm glad to be your friend." She said seeing his eyes lower briefly.

"Thank you Avalon." She nodded watching him retreat, moving silently through his home and back to his attic sanctuary.


	15. I Try

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_(If anyone notes anything odd like a chapter missing or something, please let me know. I think I may of made a goof somehow.)_

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**Chapter 15: I Try**

Her days went quite regularly with cleaning the house, screaming like some girl being chased in a horror movie over spiders and often sharing light conversations with Edward. Both loved books and would often read to one another late at night. She had yet to get to the bedrooms upstairs, enjoying her little sanctuary by the fireplace downstairs.

Avalon adored it when it was Edward's turn to read, his voice often would entrance her with the soft tones, he had some sort of magic about him bringing the worlds in the pages alive. They had gotten into a pattern of sorts, often enough they would end up sleeping in the same room, him in the large chair and her snuggled among the couch.

Their weeks went by in this contented pattern until one morning Avalon's cell phone disrupted both their rest, she crashed on the floor in her attempt to find the object causing him to also start, his hand creating a rather interesting clatter before he realized the problem.

"Hello?" her voice was still lodged with sleep and her eyes barely registered the blurred form of her companion across from her. "Nakeesha?" she sighed flopping tiredly backwards on the floor, grimacing when her head connected with the hard floor.

"Mother's sending me early." Avalon aware of her tone sat up quickly, rubbing her head and trying to wake herself up enough to focus. "There's more…you awake?"

"Yes." Avalon disliked her half sister's tone; it was one she used when real trouble was involved.

"She's thrown me out." Avalon nearly dropped her phone, Edward watching her reaction was alert hoping nothing serious had transpired.

"_What?_ I don't think I'm awake yet." She managed confused by Nakeesha's tone.

"She said I'm going to straighten out and instead of the expenses of boarding school, I'm to transfer to the school where you live and finish out there. If I can find it to straighten out then and only then will she consider being pleased with me enough to let me move back in." Avalon pinched herself, sure enough she was awake.

"What, _what _did you do?" she wasn't angry, she was stunned and hoped Nakeesha could tell this.

"It's my fault?" Nakeesha sounded offended; there was something else there too.

"I didn't say that, what made mother decide too…" she paused hearing a brief argument on the phone before hearing her mother's sharp voice.

"Don't let her fool you darling…Reggie and I were discussing a solution to her boarding school. She's far too hopeful." Avalon waited patiently, her mother was often overly dramatic. "We discussed making her finish up her school year with you, June isn't that far off and she will be there for the summer as well. It's a temporary solution until we can find a suitable school for her. We don't like the idea of one clear out in Germany, nor somewhere she will be happy to be. We're still discussing options." She recoiled wrapping her arm around her knees and glanced up at Edward.

His scissors were moving in a fretful fashion, she gently moved her hand in a placating gesture in hopes he would calm down. He seemed to do so and watched her very nearly asking a question. He declined the urge in favor of not aggravating her mother who was obviously on the other end of the phone.

"_Options_, how is sending her off to another school in a foreign country going to improve her disposition? You know as well as I do mother, they aren't always all that safe." She heard a sigh and then a long pause.

"True, do you have any suggestions then?" she knew it would just thrill her sister if she suggested what she wanted to do, she was also very aware that it wouldn't necessarily beeasy on her.

She loved her sister with all her heart, but even she wasn't sure she could handle her for two more years of highschool. She could barely handle her own life and drama. She felt horrible, even despicable but she had to say it.

"Not at the moment. I'm not sure I could have her live here that long. I just don't like the idea you're suggesting either." Her mother sounded a little miffed at her, but tried to maintain her pleasant manner.

"You _see_ what I mean then. I'll discuss it further with Reggie, meanwhile...are you _capable_ of managing her for the rest of the year as well as summer?" her mother's spiteful tone made her grit her teeth, but she stopped herself from being snippy.

"_Yes_ I can." She managed barely containing herself. "When will she arrive?"

"This evening." Her mother stated in that sweet tone that annoyed her to no end.

He watched her closely seeing her fingers whiten and was concerned about the phone now closed in her hand. He wasn't aware of how much she truly disliked her mother until then. She was like one of his sculptures, silent inhuman unless you looked closely within her green gaze. He had always thought her gentle; he saw the true fire now, one he didn't wish to be burnt by if he could avoid it.

"Avalon?"

She made no move and took no notice of his tone or concern. He respected the fact she was off in her own thoughts, he just hoped she was aware of how damaging it could be to the device she had told him was her phone.

Unnoticed he was present at her side, again knelt near her like a silent guardian. He remained silent protecting her in his own fashion and hoping that she didn't again start crying. He didn't want to ever see her in pain again. _"She's almost delicate like one of my flowers and then she's like an angry snake ready to strike."_ Contemplating this woman before him he often wondered what she was truly like, she was hard to read and harder still to understand.

He glanced down at the time on her wrist watch, she was still silent and from what he could decipher it had been nearly a half hour since she reacted to anything. Her cell was still squished within her white hand. Finally very gently he lifted a scissor hand brushing her long red hair from her face; she reacted jerking lightly to face him.

He winced seeing her reaction and was surprised she had received no damage from his bladed hands. Remarkably Avalon seemed almost attune to the pressures that could harm her.

"Edward." Her voice was relaxed, body going from rigid to calm in moments.

His presence had become a sort of comfort to her over their few weeks together. Slowly she registered the time, the realization she had been lost in her own oblivion and the need to ready herself for Nakeesha's arrival. Before any of those concepts could be processed her gaze flickered to the scissor finger resting lightly on her shoulder, her blue pajama top indented with the silver blade.

Avalon was aware of how she somehow subconsciously avoided being harmed by his hands, he always fretted over the damage he could do, how often an accident could happen and yet she had not been marred by them. It was like he knew how delicately to treat her pale skin, unnerved by this observation she offered him one of her warm smiles.

"I didn't mean to space out." She was sure he read more into her than she knew, his dark eyes were so understanding, and it was like she was clear as glass to him. "I need to go pick up Nakeesha at the bus station, she's coming to stay for a while. It appears our mother has decided she can no longer handle her, unfortunately I think this was part of my sisters' intricate plan to _escape_." She frowned; it wasn't like her sister could do much worse than she had.

Avalon realized in her anger she had forgotten to ask what was so heinous that her sister was banished to live with her. Those thoughts abruptly stopped when she realized her sister would have to be situated at the local school and she had no idea what all she had to do.

Groaning she slumped into her knees, his scissor hand again gently gliding around her body and resting on her shoulder. Peeking up at the wild haired friend at her side she made a face; he gave her an endearing smile and watched her expression soften.

"I have no clue where to begin."

"Talk to you friend, she might be able to help." Avalon just barely controlled her urge to cringe; he was referring to the one name neither had spoken since the bathroom incident.

"Thank you." She whispered earnestly seeing him nod, he went about to do his thing while Avalon made the effort to find the phone book.

Two hours later she found what she wanted, acutely noticing the fact that Edward had not returned to investigate her progress. She could hear noises among the house and concluded he was dusting upstairs in hopes of reducing her screaming fits over spider invaders. Finding Kim's number she wondered if it would be right to bother the woman, their last conversation had created an odd almost awkwardness about them furthering any sort of contact.

"_I hope she can offer me just a bit more advice."_ Praying she waited for an answer.

"Hello, Smith residence, Kim speaking." Avalon concluded she had lost all her nerve.

"Kim, this is _Avalon_." Her voice nearly broke on her name; she was regretting her decision as well as taking Edward's advice. "Could you spare some time, maybe a little advice?"

"Yes Avalon, I would be happy to help you _if_ I can." She was now aware that Kim was assuming it had something to do with Edward.

"It hasn't anything to do with Edward; I need help in understanding how to transfer my half sister to the school here. She's coming to stay with me for a while and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." She grimaced at how pathetic she sounded.

"I see, I would be glad to help you sort that out. How did things go?" she wondered if Kim was psychic for the briefest of moments.

"Better than expected, we're both doing quite well now." She could hear the relief in Kim's voice, clearly the elderly woman knew more had happened and didn't want the details. "Thank you for you help." She whispered.

"You're welcome. When your sister arrives stop over and I'll help you with the forms. I know the principal well and can get it all set for you."

"Thank you so much Kim." Avalon was given a quick 'goodbye' before being left staring at her now closed phone. "That worked well."


	16. Truth or Dare?

_**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

**A/N:** _Yes it has been forever and a decade, or at least feels like that. I'm again writing so I'm working this once again. I apologize for the long wait and hope to see you all back for the rest. I have no idea where we're going in this as of yet, whether Edward/OC or not. It could be a romance in the future or just a close friendship. We shall see where my muse takes me on her flights. Enjoy._

_I shall do updates as I finish chapters, for now this is going but slower than some of my stories. Hopefully inspiration will hit and I can get all my writings moving once again._

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**Chapter 17: Truth or Dare?**

He had spent most of his time alone avoiding the issue troubling him. He was opening up and becoming close to Avalon, something he had hoped to avoid. He was now terribly aware of how he aged and now understood more than his innocence betrayed. He would loose her, Nakeesha and Kim was already beyond his reach. In creating him he was sure his father had not completed him in more ways than just his hands, he wondered if he could ever be happy.

_"Will I ever find peace?"_

_CLICK_

He heard the door shut before turning around, he had successfully dusted most of the bedroom he was working on, he had intended to have Nakeesha help him and surprise Avalon. Clearly he still might have the chance, she looked empty handed and distracted, it meant he had time to complete his surprise.

"Thank you for your suggestion, I think Nakeesha will be set." He nodded discarding the rag and maneuvering himself in front of a space he was very aware of a spider being visible in, he didn't want her to screaming again.

"You're welcome." He sounded distant; she had her theories on why and kept them to herself.

"I'm going to pick Nakeesha up, the little rebel and I have to sort out her stay…" she paused knowing it wasn't wise to ask him along, unless he insisted which she knew he wouldn't. "…will you be alright?"

"Yes." He was fighting with himself, he wanted to keep the young Kim's image in his mind, dancing in the snow, in his arms, loving him, he did wonder how she was now though.

"Would you like something?"

She hoped she didn't sound as pathetic as she assumed, she knew he was hurting and some of it was her fault.

"I'll be fine Avalon, I'll wait for your return." She nodded reluctantly turning to go.

"Later." She whispered now very sure she would be in a lousy mood for the rest of the day.

Outside the bus station she waited, watching people coming and going. Ghosts in her concerned and distant thoughts, she longed to help Edward and yet she had created part of his anguish. Making a face and cursing herself she peered up around the area, Nakeesha come running hauling a massive sized amount of luggage on a cart.

She adored her sister but had to know what she _did_ to have their mother send her to her; she must have done something enough to tick of her whole household. Pausing Nakeesha could see mixed emotions in Avalon's eyes, suspiciously she put her things into the popped trunk and back of the car before sliding in.

"Hi."

"Is that it?" Avalon was at war with herself, she was afraid to start a war with her half sister.

"How are you and Edward getting along?" Nakeesha's mischief filled eyes lowered, her sister wanted an answer and she couldn't hide forever.

"Fine." Avalon refused to start the car, she waited and watched.

"I blew up Bailey's car." She managed softly her eyes remaining on her now folded hands. "I snuck a cigarette and also took out half the garage, his car was leaking, it _wasn't_ on purpose." She defended herself, toying with her frayed band t-shirt and holed jeans.

"Another of Bailey's vehicles?" Avalon asked incredulously.

Nakeesha shrugged. "Same one, he had it fixed while I was away with you." She dared to glance at her sister and saw her eyes were like saucers. "What?"

"Boarding school." She winced, Avalon knew everything and clearly their mother was just as condescending toward her on the phone. "What am I going to do to convince her not to send you off?" for the moment her personal issues were aside to focus on her sister, she would talk to Nakeesha about Edward's past when she had a minute to focus on her sister.

"No idea, Dad seems pretty resolute on sending me to a school in Denmark." She added sounding lame by her own ears, she could see Avalon had surrendered and calmed enough to sigh.

"So I heard, mom said Germany." Nakeesha shrugged, Avalon took the opportunity to put the car into gear and discuss their visit with Kim Smith and part of the story behind Edward and her.


	17. The Warrior

_**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

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**Chapter 18: The Warrior**

Nakeesha after expressing a very shocked point of view hadn't said a word until they reached Kim's house. Slowly she met Avalon's gaze sadness in her expression; there was also a sort of accusatory look to her.

"I didn't hurt him on purpose Nakeesha, I wanted to spare him." She ignored her younger half sisters' look climbing from the car. "Hi Kim."

Nakeesha turned at the greeting seeing a frail older woman with her hair neatly in a bun wearing an old sweater and slacks, she seemed nice enough but she wasn't quite sure if she liked this Kim much. She was worried about the state of Edward; she was concerned over her friend.

"Hello Avalon, this must be Nakeesha?" she eyes the perfect image of a rebel watching her step from the car, her clothing was frayed in various places, she wondered why this girl hadn't frightened Edward but then again he had always been quite tolerant.

"Hello Mrs. Smith." Nakeesha forced, the words rolling in her mouth like some disgusting term. She felt unclean.

"Kim please." Her dark eyes steadied on the hardened look staring her down, Nakeesha was clearly protective of their shared friend, she also didn't hide how angry she was at both women around her. "I have the forms you need and transfer information for her records. Follow me." She led the pair into the living room that was familiar to Avalon.

Going over the forms had been quite easy and it wasn't long before Nakeesha would be set to start in school the day after tomorrow. Her sister was still disgruntled and slightly rude but for some reason Kim seemed to understand this. Avalon had to give her credit, she was wise to the youth of her sisters' generation and clearly knew that both sisters were at a stand still on the subject of the scissor handed man in the mansion.

"May I walk home?" Nakeesha wasn't in the mood to be social; she wanted to see how much damage had occurred to Edward since her last visit.

"No." Avalon stated softly ignoring her sisters scathing look. "You can drive home if you like though." She managed feeling even more accountable for her sisters' mood and Edward's discomfort.

"Thanks." Nakeesha barely managed through grit teeth.

She was gone not long after and that was when Avalon relaxed letting out a breath. Kim could see the trouble within her expression, the sadness and dared to speak.

Inside the car Nakeesha did all she could to resist speeding to the mansion, she was furious with herself as well as the two woman she had left behind. Her sister didn't intentionally do anything to harm her friend, Kim on the other hand she couldn't bring herself to forgive. She had just abandoned Edward and left him to wonder, left him in a sort of peace-less abyss.

_SLAM_

She leaned against the car for the longest time staring at the familiar garden, her eyes lingering on the hand as the center piece. She slowly become aware of twitching blades and glanced up into the familiar face of Edward making his way toward her. His warm grin greeted her making her smile in turn.

"Welcome back." He managed softly before pausing a short distance away from her, he could see she was troubled and upset.

"Thanks."

"What is wrong?"

His inquiry didn't go unnoticed but she resisted the urge to spill everything that was on her mind. Finally she spared him a glance and he seemed to again see right through her, she found feeling like a glass object around him disconcerting.

"You shouldn't be mad at either of them, it is complicated Nakeesha."

"That doesn't mean you should be hurt again." She complained bitterly kicking a rock into the distance.

"Avalon didn't mean to…she didn't even know who Kim was for certain or the story until the day you left. She's in her own amount of pain, you were right about her hurting herself." She eyed him doubtfully. "Let's walk." He turned moving slowly off, his dark hair blowing in the wind.

Dutifully she followed regardless of her personal issues at the moment.

Avalon felt considerably drained by the time she was outside the gates to the mansion, Kim had been kind enough to give her a ride but refused to enter the grounds. She peeked in the car noting all of Nakeesha's things were still present and had a feeling Edward had tried talking her out of her anger driven tantrum at the moment.

She was grateful for his intervention and made a brief effort to haul in most of Nakeesha's things, leaving them near the entryway stairs and started off into the room she had been living in since her arrival. Gently she guided her weary body down onto the couch and remained there staring dully into the fireplace.

Her mind was a whirlwind of so many thoughts; she couldn't focus on one issue at a time. She was virtually within her own chaos and lost to those around her. Silently she debated all that happened, she had learned and her own personal demons.

Her life was far too complicated.

Edward had a long conversation with Nakeesha that afternoon, telling her of all the events, at least some of them. He left out a lot of details due to both Avalon and himself having their own personal reasons, he delegated enough to convince Nakeesha not to be angry with her sister and give her a bit of understanding.

She left him to tend to his chores and decided to take a long walk among the gardens of fantasy that only Edward could make.

Aware that she had arrived without Avalon he wondered if she had returned to the mansion yet. Anxiously he hoped she had, but also hoped she had left Kim home, he wasn't quite sure he could handle seeing her again, especially aged.

He understood Kim's reasoning behind never coming back, he disliked it and yet was secretly thankful to her for giving him that sort of peace no matter how little it seemed. Guardedly he made his way up the front steps and into the house.

He glanced around wide eyed at the level of items Nakeesha had brought this trip, this time it _did_ look like she had moved in. Quietly he moved toward Avalon's familiar sanctuary within the house, where they often shared in stories, conversations and ideas only they shared together.

She was there staring deeply into the unlit fireplace, her eyes almost glazed in a fashion. Her hair was a disheveled mess, her green blouse wrinkled and her bellbottom black slacks had dust clear up to the knees. In his observations he deduced she had walked up the drive and hadn't moved since.

"Avalon?" coming around she glanced toward the sound and smiled tenderly, his concern warmed her heart despite her feeling wretched over causing him pain.

"I'm fine."

He knew she was hiding the truth and under his powerful dark eyes she finally caved.

"Alright not _fine_, just thinking…" she trailed off seeing no sign of Nakeesha anywhere. "…where's Nakeesha?"

"We talked, she's walking the gardens thinking." She nodded already gathering he had come to her rescue, becoming her dark guardian angel again.

"Thank you for protecting me, again." It was little but all she could offer at the present moment, she was emotionally and physically drained at the second.

"I'm always here for you, that is what friends are for." Those words hurt him on levels he didn't wish to process at the moment, he didn't realize they had nearly the same effect on her.

She smiled again feeling a stinging sensation in her eyes and fought back the tears, he was so gentle and kind it stung her to see him in pain. Slowly she stood trying to focus on tasks, she needed to make dinner and get Nakeesha sorted. She had a list of things to get around for her to take with her to school and other things on her mind to sort through as well. She wondered if it would slow down long enough for her to actually get sleep.

_Click, click, click_

Both looked up to see Nakeesha brushing out her hair and were aware of the familiar sound of her new heeled boots, he wondered if she knew how loud some of her footwear truly was.

"Hey." Avalon saw a warm grin greet her and allowed her own in turn. "Are you ready to deal with a menacing teenager?"

"You're _only_ that way at _home_." Avalon teased seeing mischief within those green eyes and sighing, her sister was full of it.

"So you think, but are you sure?"

"I don't think I have the function ability to be _sure_ at present."

"Do you ever?" Edward laughed, it was good to have them back together and teasing each other once more.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" Avalon turned her look on Edward who offered a shrug, his scissors clicking briefly. "Right, she found you first." Smiling Avalon went about her work in the kitchen, aware of her fondness for the inventions that often made her life easier.


End file.
